It’s Happening!

Joe started working at the company I was working at, LC Engineering Group, Inc. The department manager introduced me to Joe, and he said, "Joe, whatever you do, get on her good side." We shook hands and spoke only a few words to each other over the next few months. I thought he was cute but assumed he was married. Joe left LC Engineering Group, Inc. after 6 months to pursue a supervisor role at a different engineering firm, and that's when he contacted me.

Joe and I found an amazing rental home in Moorpark and decided it was too good to pass up. We had no idea how to navigate the waters of blending our kids together and what that entailed. It took almost an entire year and things finally started to flow. We still reside in that same house today and have been welcomed into the most amazing family-oriented community. The kids have made so many friends and by default, we've become great friends with all the parents. Summers have been spent in our community pool, we take the dogs to the large park, and most importantly our kids are safe here. We plan on staying here as long as possible.

We planned a road trip to visit Joshua Tree (one of our favorite destination spots with Mexico a close second) and to Tucson, Arizona for our 3-year anniversary weekend. It was just the two of us, we first went walking through Pioneer Town, then entered the Joshua Tree park and walked through Barker Dam. It was overcast but there were cactus blooms everywhere. There is one section of the park that is very remote and it had what I would call the most perfect looking Joshua Tree. We drove to the spot, pulled over, and walked towards that perfect tree. To our surprise, half of the tree had collapsed which is a common thing with these particular plants because of drought. I was pretty bummed, but Joe and I mutually agreed that it was still standing and that's what mattered. Joe grabbed my hand, turned me around, got on one knee, and had the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. I was in such shock I instantly cried, gave him the wrong hand, can hardly remember what he said but I said yes! We hugged each other all teary-eyed for the longest time. We were the only people around for miles. We went and ate at our favorite BBQ rib place In Twenty-nine Palms, the wait was over an hour and there were no seats but we did not care. After dinner, we went to the Harmony Motel which is where my favorite band U2 stayed when they photographed the cover for their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. When we woke the next day we headed to Tucson, Arizona where we stayed in an Airbnb on someone's horse property. We bbq'd, drank beer on the patio and watched the sunset. We went to Saguaro National Park and checked out Old Tucson which had the set from Tombstone. It was an absolutely perfect weekend.