Our Story, it's as classic as they go. High school sweethearts, peer pressured PDA, rejection, college roomies, crazy car rides... it has it all. You have heard it all before and you get to hear it all again only this time it's about us... Well, my version of events anyway! Although we went to the same high school, grew up in the same city, Lex and I never really said one word to each other until my senior and her junior year of high school. We can all thank her for that! Our first substantial interaction occurred while volunteering at the same Swim Special Olympics event going on. While we didn’t interact hardly at all there, later that day she texted a friend for my number and then went on to text me, I ignored it, totally ghosted her. Something she doesn’t let me forget…. rightly so. Thank God for second chances! That following football season after our first home game, I catch Lex after the game wanting a picture together and to my surprise, she had painted on her face my jersey number. This seemed a little out of nowhere to me. If you ask her, you might get a slightly different story. Inevitably, we begin texting here and there and two short weeks later, it's Homecoming week. Luckily, as if planned by God himself, Lex didn't have a date yet either. So, with some convincing from friends, in the middle of the 4th quarter of the HC football game I came up with a plan. I told my teammates to give me their helmets after the game. I put together what might go down as the worst HC display topped off with a human question mark to ask her to homecoming. She said yes! Then came the KISS KISS KISS chants. I asked her if she was ready, and it has been one heck of a whirlwind since!!

Before we talk about how it happened, let's talk about getting the ring. It took MONTHS. Lex really wanted to be a part of the decision making. I shut that down instantly, probably a little too quick. Now the pressure was on. I spent months searching for the ring Lex would pick herself. Wandering through one of our favorite places, Costco, I saw what I thought was it. On another trip to said favorite location, we both wandered over to the rings and she saw it and pointed it out to me. I was almost sold, but then thought how many other thousands of people have this ring. So, I went to a local jeweler and after a few more weeks of searching she found the perfect ring for Lex. Now for the hard part, planning. I spent more weeks searching for a romantic weekend getaway. “No Vacancy” for months everywhere. Without telling her why, I had to enlist the help of the person who I knew would find something amazing, Lex. And she did! A waterfront resort in Bellingham, WA. I checked the weather for the weekend... rain.. the only rain of the summer.. We said what the heck and went anyway. Meanwhile, Addison was gracious enough to be our secret photographer and even more gracious to put up with the plans I was making on the fly. All I knew was it was either going to be at the waterfront restaurant we had reservations for or on the ocean boardwalk dock that was outside, all dependent on the weather. As we were nearing the end of our dinner, by the grace of God, the clouds started to part and reveal what was going to be a perfect sunset. It was decided, I'd ask Lex to marry me outside on the dock. Addison stealthily got into position, I dropped down on one knee, and she said... YES! Whew!