Andrew & I have always known of each other through church, but we were in different stages of life at the time. We reconnected in the spring of 2018, I was just about to graduate nursing school. I remember Andrew commenting on one of my nursing school graduation pictures I posted on Instagram. We began talking about nursing and he began giving me tips on how to prepare for my NCLEX exam, which is the exam I had to take to become a Registered Nurse. We continued to talk and get to know one another. At the time, I had not been in a serious relationship for many years. I remember my best friend, Valerie, tell me I needed to “put myself out there” and allow people to get to know me. She was adamant that I sign up for the dating app, Bumble. I wasn’t really into that sort of thing, but gave it a try. I saw Andrew on there and swiped right, and the rest is history! We became best friends and took our time with letting our friendship flourish.

It was a fall crisp morning around Thanksgiving time, Andrew and I took a day trip up to Julian, CA. We began to walk around the little town, visited the shops and then stopped for a slice of the famous Julian pie. After we finished, we then began to go for another walk. As we were walking, Andrew stopped me and began to tell me how much I meant to him and how he would like to take our friendship to the next level by becoming my boyfriend. I began to smile so big, and was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling. It was literally the best day.

Andrew suggested that we take a vacation to take our minds off work and to help relieve the stress work had been putting on us. It had been a while since we had been a vacation, so I agreed it was a good idea. We had a couple of places in mind, but decided on Costa Rica. It was a beautiful and relaxing vacation. Prior to going, Andrew told me to bring a nice dress because he had booked a photographer to get our pictures taken. Andrew knew how much I loved getting our pictures taken, but when he said that, I had an inclination that this might be the time he proposes. However, I did not want to get my hopes up just in case he didn’t propose on this vacation. I was so excited for our photo shoot, but my heart sank because as we were driving to the beach where our pictures were going to be taken, the weather changed and it began pouring rain. The dress that I chose for our shoot was satin, so with the rain I knew it would ruin my dress. Although, I was sad for a minute, right as we parked, the rain became lighter, and changed to a drizzle. As we were walking to the beach and met up with the photographer, all I could think about was the rain ruining our pictures. However, right when we began the photo shoot, the rain stopped, thankfully. We began taking pictures, and my heart was beating so fast because I felt like this was it. During the middle of our photo shoot, on the beautiful beach of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, Andrew got down on one knee and professed his love for me. We both got emotional and I of course said YES! It couldn’t have been more perfect. I can’t wait to marry my best friend!!!