Yay Marriage!

This is the story of the first day Byron and I met, the first page of the first chapter, the day "my" story grew into "our" story. We've always lived and gone to school near each other, running parallel for years, but never intersecting. Until one Saturday in March 2014, when our stories finally merged. And to think it all started with a haircut. I asked our mutual friend, Griffin, (now a best man in the wedding) to give Byron my number. I had seen a picture of him on instagram (classic millennials) and after hearing about him I knew I wanted to meet him. A few weeks after Griffin gave him my number my phone lit up, and it was Byron! Enough time had passed that I had nearly forgotten he had my number but the second he texted me all of the excitement I had felt before rushed back. We set up a time for him to come in and I tried my hardest to settle my expectations, because who knows? It could just be a haircut then never see each other again. But deep down I was excited, for some reason it just felt like more. The day came and I had just finished my client before him and all of a sudden could feel the butterflies start to flutter, I felt so silly for being so nervous. I felt like something big was about to happen but it's just a haircut right? But then he walked in, and any ounce of anxiousness or nervousness I felt immediately washed away. It was as if my best friend that I hadn't seen in years walked through that door and I couldn't wait to catch up...but I had never met this person. We laughed and chatted our way through the haircut and when the appointment was over we weren't ready to stop the conversation. So we decided to go on a walk that turned into an entire day of being together. That entire day together has turned into our entire life together, a life full of laughter and meaningful connection. A five year conversation that started that day in the salon. Still just as excited to be together as that sunny Saturday in March 2014.

A month into dating Byron took me back to our first date spot and he pulled out this big lock box. He put it down on the table and simply said “write whatever you want (:” he said it could be about anything so I chose to write about us. I asked when we were going to open it and he just kind of shrugged and casually said “when the time is right”...So I proceeded to write. I wrote all of the times I knew I loved him. I wrote about loving him the first time we met when he came in to the salon to get a haircut, I loved him all of the nights we stayed up talking for hours, I loved him from the beginning. But we hadn’t said “I love you” to each other and I didn’t want to jump the gun. I looked up from my paper and he had already written four pages and was patiently waiting for me to finish. I scribbled my last bit and nervously put it into the box. We locked up the box, each had a key, and threw the spare keys over the mountainside. The only way to get in, was if we opened it together. So fast forward FIVE YEARS LATER and we’re at our favorite spot in Morro bay for Christmas. It’s Christmas Eve morning, crisp air, sun shining, as we hike sand dunes. We get to the top, take in a second of the clean ocean air and as I turn around from the view...he’s on one knee. Lockbox in hand. He looked older and younger at the same time, 19 and 25 at the same time. He told me to open the box and I panicked because I didn’t have my key. (Turned out he watched YouTube videos on how to pick a lock) so I opened our time capsule and there it was. The ring box. Tears started building. My throat was tight as I looked into his smiling eyes. I immediately got down to my knees too and wrapped my arms around him and we cried and laughed and rolled around in the sand. I finally read those four pages from five years ago. And guess what! He proposed back then!! I couldn't imagine being happier than I was in that moment, but somehow, you've made me happier and happier each day. Now let's get married!

Although getting married didn’t pan out how we expected, we couldn’t be happier with how our story has unfolded. In the midst of so much uncertainty, one thing remained clear: we were going to get married. Making the choice to move ahead without our family and friends by our side was one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make, but we always knew we would find a way to celebrate with everyone. And it’s finally here! We can’t wait to share this new chapter surrounded by everyone we love, and reflect on our first two years of marriage with all of you! We’ve loved being husband and wife, and we’re so excited to finally be bride and groom!