Their story officially began in 2014 with a casual movie date to see Transformers 4. As life took them in different directions, they both stayed in touch through social media, casually cheering each other on from a distance. Fast forward to 2018, Brooks was getting ready to move to Virginia when Ashley, half-joking, threw out, “Come visit me at Starbucks before you leave!” She didn’t expect anything of it, but the day before his big move, he walked in. He waited 30 minutes just to spend five minutes with her on her break. It wasn’t long — but it said everything. As conversations became more frequent, Brooks flew back to California to take Ashley to a country concert. After that, it was daily FaceTime calls, texts across time zones, until October of 2018, when Brooks moved back to California. A month later, on November 18, in a moment full of meaning and heart, he asked Ashley to be his girlfriend.

A week before Christmas, Brooks was very set on getting Christmas card photos. So, bright and early on Sunday morning, they packed Sasha in the car and headed to Mount Charleston to beat the crowd. Trying to get photos with numb hands and a wiggly dog wasn’t easy, but just as Ashley set up the camera for one last shot, she turned around — and Brooks was down on one knee. When Ashley realized what was happening, there were instant tears. The easiest and fastest YES! They announced their engagement on the back of their Christmas card as a surprise to everyone!