We met while working at City Year in Jacksonville, Florida. If you ask Nyah, he says that I called “dibs” on him almost immediately. During a team bonding/professional development session, we were paired to discuss our values. After the conversation, I told Nyah “We are going to be really great friends.” We quickly became close friends, attending events together and bonding over local art, small town roots, impromptu road trips, Table Topics, craft beer, Beyonce’s Lemonade drop, and “forced” Bachelor watch parties. For two years, we enjoyed each other’s friendship and supported each other through career changes, family changes, and relationship changes. Neither of us felt anything other than a genuine, close friendship. When Nyah planned to leave Jacksonville, we knew that we didn’t want to separate. A strong foundation of friendship opened the door for something more. We knew then what we know even better now: we don’t ever want to “do life” without each other.

On our three-year dating anniversary, we met up at the Renwick Art Gallery after work. We walked around the gallery, enjoying the collection and each others’ company. We'd planned to have dinner at a local restaurant and had time to waste before our reservation started. Nyah wanted to wander from the gallery, across from the White House, toward the National Mall. We wandered to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, reminiscing about the last three years. About halfway to the memorial, Nyah got down on one knee and proposed. I was shocked that he'd bought a ring, especially after he spent the previous year convincing me that the diamond proposal was too traditional for us. Our friend Catherine was there to take photos, which you can see on our Photos page. We celebrated by drinking champagne on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial while a man with a guitar played us a few original songs and we called family and friends to share the news.