We met at a welcome home party for a mutual friend. I had organized the party with some of the other friends that this friend and I both knew. On the day of the party, our friend had asked me if he could invite some of his other friends, to which I responded with something along the lines of, "Of course! This party is for you." I got to the park after work that day and went to find a table that wasn't in use. As, I was coming back with some supplies from my car, I saw Joseph wandering around. I recognized him from some institute activities, so I asked if he was there for the party. When he said he was, we introduced ourselves and he kindly helped me set up along with other friends as they showed up. At the end of the party we were walking to our cars when he decided to ask me on a date. Although, I was caught a little off guard, I said yes! Joseph's version So, Alicia had organized a welcome home party for one of my best friends after he got back from his mission. I had no idea about it, probably because she didn't know me at the time, so I had asked my other best friend if he wanted to hang out that night, and he was like "Aren't you going to the party tonight?", and I was like "Uh, what party?". So anyway, I showed up, and there was no one there. I sat down at one of the empty tables and was going to text my friend to make sure I hadn't gone to the wrong place or gotten the time wrong or something, but then Alicia showed up and asked if I was there for the party. I said I was, and she started setting up, so I helped her a bit and we talked a little, and then someone she actually knew showed up and they started talking, so I kind of just quietly helped after that, especially as more people showed up, some of whom I knew and some of whom I didn't. Over the course of the whole night, Alicia and I really hardly talked at all. But as she was leaving, I had a thought come to mind along the lines of "If you don't ask her on a date now, you will probably never see her again". I thought she was cute and that it was super cool that she put together a whole party for my buddy, so I went for it. And (unknowingly) interrupted her conversation with her friend. But hey, she said yes, so I guess it worked out! And I am so, so glad that it did.

For our first date we went on a hike called the Old South Skyline trail in Ogden, Ut. It was a hike neither of us had done before because we wanted to try something new. We didn't end up finishing the trail because we spent the first half of our time trying to find the start of the trail and we had started a little late, so it was starting to get dark. Thankfully, we had good conversations and found that we enjoyed each others company! A little over a year after that first date, we decided to try to finish the hike. We still started later than we should have, so we still haven't finished the hike, but we got a lot further on our second try! As we were making our way back, we were going down some switchbacks when all of a sudden we hear a rattle right next to our feet! There was some jumping, screaming and funny antics as we tried to get past the snake safely. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but by the time we left the snake behind, it was dark and we had our flashlights out. We continued on for a little while longer before pausing for a moment as we were passing a clearing. Although it wasn't how he initially planned it, Joseph pulled the ring box out of his backpack and proposed. Alicia smiled as soon as she saw the ring box and enthusiasticlly said yes when he was done asking! We then safely made it back to our car before it got too late :)