It all started way back in third grade! In September of 2006, Stephan and I walked into the same classroom on the first day of school - Mrs. Benner's class. Growing up, we had always been apart of the same friend group. Stephan was actually my first "boyfriend" in sixth grade (LOL). Although our middle school fling didn't last too long, we still remained friends and our love story rekindled during our senior year of high school. Stephan was actually in the friend-zone for a while, but I had no idea! I thought we were just the best of friends and saw him as a brother to me. Little did I know, when we were 16 years old, Stephan realized that he wanted to be with me. Eventually, I came to my senses and realized that I thought of him as more than a friend too! Everyone else around us saw us together before I came to this realization. On Valentine's Day of our senior year, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend! Seeing how we have been friends for years, we went into the relationship knowing each other very well. Stephan always says that his favorite thing about our relationship is that "we are best friends before anything else." It didn't take us long to realize that we wanted to spend forever together. Since the first day we walked into Mrs. Benner's classroom, it has been impossible to picture our lives without one another in it.

During one of our life group meetings, our leaders, Autumn & Jonathan, raffled off tickets to see The Blue Man Group, and I won! I was so excited because I have wanted to see them for years!!! Little did I know, every single piece of paper that was in the bowl that Autumn chose from said my name on it! Stephan knew that they were coming to Boston and that I had been wanting to see them, so he bought the tickets but wanted to make it seem like a coincidence. I had no idea - I thought I was just that lucky! On May 4, 2019, we went to see The Blue Man Group perform in Boston and it was such a fun time! After the show, we planned to get dinner. At this point in the day, I was starving and chilly so I was ready to get inside and EAT! Then, Stephan said he wanted to take a picture by the dock before we went to get dinner, which is unlike him because he hates taking pictures but I thought he was just trying to be cute so I went along with it. After we took our selfie, I was ready to leave but he stopped me and said "Wait.. I have to say something before we leave." In that moment, I knew he was going to propose and I began to cry. It felt like I had a billion butterflies in my stomach! After he got down on one knee and put my dream ring on my finger, a couple of our amazing friends popped out of nowhere! We feel so grateful to Jocelyn and Hoana who captured this special moment through pictures & video. Brenda, Ryan and Jesse were also there as the best hype crew! Then, we headed back to Stephan's house for a surprise engagement party! I was dancing and squealing the whole ride back because I was so excited! Even typing this, all of those butterflies are coming back! It truly was the most magical day of our lives. P.S. - We did not plan to wear matching denim jackets, LOL!