It's Always Been You.

It was a cool October night in the sleepy town of Thousand Oaks. I was out with my college friends at our local grille/bar having a girl's night. As chance would have it, Austin had walked in with his group of buddies, and they took a table not too far from us; I didn't even notice them, but one of my friends did. She goes up to them and strikes up conversation. We eventually all start talking and hanging out together as we bring our two groups together. Later on, as we all go outside, I notice Austin starting to break away from his group of buddies to gravitate my way; he takes a seat right next to me on the outside bench and he lights up a smoke. I could tell he was giving me some major googley-eye vibes and was checking me out. I didn't mind. I was intrigued by him and what he had to say, and obviously I found him attractive as well - so I, perhaps being a little too friendly - sat on his lap, gave him a peck on the cheek, and told him: "You're cute!" What can I say, I'm not shy! He was pretty happy about that. We exchanged phone numbers...and the rest, as they say, is history.

I woke up on my 26th Birthday, excited and eager for the day. I got ready for work like any other morning, headed to the office for a half day, then Austin picked me up for a birthday adventure in Denver. We spent all day exploring the city, just having some old-fashioned fun. As it was getting late, I remember Austin kept asking me where I wanted to go to dinner as he later informed me, this is where he was hoping to propose. I, of course, had no idea about his secret plan and insisted I wasn't hungry. We eventually stumbled upon a Le Meridien Hotel, with which Austin had history since he worked at a Le Meridien Hotel while briefly living in Indiana. He suggested we go to their rooftop bar; It was pretty swanky, every patron was dressed to the nines; we had decided to dress up ourselves, so we fit right in and enjoyed the phenomenal sunset views from 20 stories high. THE moment was just minutes away! I can't imagine how Austin was feeling - but later he admitted that he was really nervous. I remember thanking him and telling him what a great birthday it had been, he then gets up from where we were sitting, and says: "You know what would make it even better?"...and he got down on one knee! We were fortunate that the patrons at this bar were kind enough to take tons of pictures and videos for us; its rare to have candid photos/videos from an engagement, so I'm very grateful that those memories were captured. I cried, Austin cried, they cried. It was truly a magical moment, one which I will never forget.