Chris and I love going to the beach whenever we can. We love spending the day listening to the water, reading, and enjoying each other's company. When we had only been dating for a few months, we took a trip to CA together so I could meet his family. On this trip, we stayed a few nights at Solana Beach in the cutest ever AirBnB. It became our favorite beach, and we couldn't wait to go back. We weren't able to return until we moved to CA almost two years later. We went on the first Saturday we could and stayed the whole day. It was just like we remembered, a beautiful horizon, soft sand to lay on, giant rocks to explore, and an incredible sunset to end the day. A few months later, my mom and one of my sisters arrived for a visit. I don't why I had this in my head, but I had a feeling Chris might propose while my mom was visiting, because he knows how close we are. I told my mom I was half expecting a proposal the first second we were alone together. As their trip went on, I was more and more convinced he was going to propose. Then, he mentioned wanting to take my mom and sister to see Solana for a sunset, I was pretty much positive I was right. I let my sister know of my suspicions right before we left for Solana, so they could both help me pick out a dress to wear (not white, because I didn't want him to think I knew anything lol). We arrived at Solana, and walked down the hill to the beach entrance. We set up our towels and sat together, just chatting. Chris seemed a little nervous, so I was letting him take his time. What I didn't know at the time, Chris had hired a photographer to capture the moment, and she was about 20 minutes late. Once she finally arrived to the spot, Chris asked me to take a walk with him. We walked down to the water and talked about how much we love each other. Chris told me to look at the water, and when I turned back around, he was on one knee, with the most beautiful ring. Already tearing up, he asked me to marry him, and it was the easiest yes ever. We had wonderful photos taken both with each other, and with my mom and sister. It felt like a dream. It was magical and beautiful and perfect, and even though I know Chris was stressed about everything going to plan, I couldn't have asked for a more special proposal.

A favorite game of mine is called the Outer Wilds. It's an exploration game where you explore an unknown fantasy solar system and while doing so, you uncover all kinds of mysteries behind it. I always would talk to Tessa about how special I thought it was, and that I wish more people would experience it. And I always dreamed that I could re-experience it all with someone special. Tessa was intrigued but she didn't have much experience with video games, other than animal crossing and platformers. It's also a single player game, and it can be difficult and intimidating to play, especially alone. Lucky for us, while searching online I found there is a way to modify the game so we could both play it together. For months, little by little we would play in our cozy apartment before bed. The more we played, the more Tessa fell in love with it like I had hoped she would. Once the girl too scared to fly the spaceship, afraid of running out of oxygen, and rightfully so, fearing the inevitable exploding Sun, now was the girl looking forward to playing every night. We never wanted it to end, but eventually we had to finish the game. Now to every couple we see Tessa says, "You guys should play Outer Wilds! Have you heard of the Outer Wilds?" Being able to share my love of something as simple as a video game and to have the person you love not only show interest, but love it like you do...well that is just one of many reasons I know Tessa is my special someone.