I was a sophomore in college when Zachary and I met through mutual friends. I had just got an apartment on North Padre Island with my best-friend at the time. Another one of my close friends Sarah, loved the beach and hanging out close to the water so she would stop by every so often. One Friday evening Sarah and I had made plans for her to stop by, have a couple drinks and make our way to an island bar called "Boat House". This bar was throwing a "costume" party that involved dressing up in dirty, beat, hillbilly clothing and cowboy hats. As Sarah and I starting drinking our wine and getting ready she started telling me about a guy she had been talking to who apparently had some cute friends. He was in the coast guard, and also lived on the island down the road from my apartment. She extended an invite and found out he was hanging out with his roommates and asked if they could join as well. Twenty minutes later and a knock at my door the entire rescue swimmer shop was in my apartment dressed up like cowboys, shot gunning coors light off my balcony and running full speed on the treadmill I had in my living room. One of those guys happen to be Zachary and the rest is history.

It was time for our annual snowboarding trip in Tahoe with some close coast guard couples we have stayed in touch with. The following year (2017) we flew up and stayed with Lorin and Joe who live in the outskirts of San Francisco. That was our meeting destination and we would all carpool up to Tahoe. This year Zack insisted on staying a night in the city and having a nice dinner together before the trip. The night before our flight Zack repeatedly told me to make sure I packed a really nice outfit for our dinner. He knows I am always in workout clothes or leggings so he had to staple that in my head. After arriving in San Francisco, we dropped our luggage off at the Marine Memorial Hotel. We decided to grab some sushi at the sushi joint across the road. GEEZE was that the most expensive sushi I had ever tasted. After lunch I told Zack that we could just pick up a cheap dinner and save money since we spent a hefty dollar on lunch, but he still insisted on a nice dinner. As 4:00 pm. rolls around and Zack pulls out a bottle of Tito's vodka and said he made a reservation at the hotels finest rooftop restaurant and that our table would be ready in the next 15 minutes. Shortly after we were seated, and our drinks in hand with a breathtaking view of the city, Zack asked our waiter to take a photo of us. Thats when it happened. With shaky hands and huge smile, Zachary pulled out a ring and nervously asked me to be his "Girlfriend" NOPE not kidding, "GIRLFRIEND". He was so nervous it made me laugh. He then said "Will you be my Wife", and of-course, I said YES!