We met at Valley Bible Church when I was a junior in high school (16), and Carson was a senior (17). It was my first night ever attending high school group, and they were having a Greek themed night. My very best friend, Madisyn Mathews, tricked me into wearing a makeshift bed-sheet toga with her after I had told her that I was definitely not doing that. So, needless to say, I felt incredibly awkward from wearing a stupid costume, and it was even worse that I felt like I looked like an idiot in front of a group of total strangers. But, then I met Carson, and he was the sweetest and kindest boy I had ever met. He made me feel like I was already his friend after only having one conversation with him, and I forgot all about how stupid I felt in my "toga". (I also thought he was the CUTEST boy ever!) Ever since that first conversation, he had always grabbed my attention in group settings, and always, without fail, made me laugh every time I would get the courage to talk to him.

By the time that I proposed to Christine on January 17th, we had been together for approximately 3 years. For most of those 3 years, I knew that I wanted to marry her, yet unfortunately, there were circumstances that prevented this from happening, like having to battle long distance while we were in college. While these were very difficult obstacles to overcome, lots of planning and compromise allowed our relationship to flourish and eventually led to the opportunity for me to propose to her. I decided to propose at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse because of what it symbolized in our relationship. This was a place that Christine and I met up during the difficult time of doing long distance when she was living in Palmdale/Pomona and I was living in San Luis Obispo. When we met here in the middle, there was sacrifice and planning that had to be done on both of our parts, which was totally worth it, as I got the opportunity to spend time with her. This time that we met in the middle at the courthouse represents our relationship perfectly, which is why I decided for the proposal that I wanted to surprise Christine at the courthouse. To do this, I asked for the help of Madisyn Mathews and Emma Neal. While Emma and I headed to Santa Barbara from SLO without Christine knowing, Madisyn had the job of driving Christine to the courthouse. This was done through planned out coffee and picture stops along the way before reaching SLO (where Christine thought she was going to be meeting me). With the courthouse being one of those many stops, Madisyn and Christine started taking pictures in front of the courthouse stairwell, which Christine and I had taken photos together at during the first time we met there. During this time, I came out of hiding, and I got down on one knee to ask Christine to marry me. I will always remember the moment not only because of the amazing video and pictures, but because this was one of the happiest moments of my life.