Drew and I met 3 weeks before I was suppose to move to Australia for almost one year. Trust me when I say I never thought I was coming back. I decided to go out on Mill Ave for the first time with my girlfriends Madi and Kelsi to have a fun girl night out. Kelsi and Drew were friends and we ended up running into him and his friend Dave that night, immediately we had an instant connection and conversation was flowing. I accidentally put my number in Drew's phone wrong and couldn't believe this guy who I thought I hit it off with didn't call or text me. Well, I guess he did... multiple times. Thank god for mutual friends and both of us complaining about not hearing from each other because a week later we realized I had screwed up. We spent a solid week together before my trip and we both knew this was something different, when you know you know. 3 months later I surprised everyone back in the US where Drew picked me up and we've been together since.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! OMG! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" That was all I could muster up and say once Drew proposed. I learned when I am shocked, crying, and over the moon excited my neck veins become so extreme and totally pop out like a crazy woman and truly the only words I have is, "Are you kidding me?!" People always ask, "Did you know he was going to propose?" We obviously always talked about one day getting married, but we had just quit our jobs and were going to be unemployed for 6+ months... So the answer is NO, no I did not expect it, not even the slightest. Teresa (Drew's Mom) and one of my best friends (Erika) were visiting us, so that's all I was thinking about.. never would i have expected a proposal. But truly, what better time!! We had a whole tour planned exploring our favorite island, Nusa Penida. Drew and I had visited the island before, but unfortunately I ended up getting so sick that day, that it wasnt the full experience we had hoped for. When we were planning our trip back to Nusa, I was so excited to get a second opportunity to see such a beautiful place again (not experiencing a heat stroke). We had planned the full Nusa Penida Island tour with the final stop at Broken Beach... our tour guide had been taking photos/videos for their travel instagram all day that I didn't think anything was weird when he told me, "Just stand there, don't look back, just stand there." I thought to myself, “this cannot look good...” but I kept hearing, "no looking, no looking, no looking..." finally I turn around... there’s Drew slow motion walking towards me, I looked down and that’s when the flood gates were opened. He had to tell me, “I need you to stop crying so I can ask you something.” After that it’s all a BLACK OUT... next thing I knew I’m squealing, I'M ENGAGED!!!!

To be honest, I was ready to propose before the trip we went on, but I figured why not do it while we were on this amazing adventure and make it perfect. I picked Broken Beach as the location where I'd do it because it meant so much to us as a couple. Chanel had been sick the last time we visited and I basically had to carry her to the area from the parking lot. Fast forward to last April and my mom arrived in Bali with the ring. I know that she felt the pressure of carrying it around for over a week because I was proposing basically on the last part of her time with us. The morning of, I was rehearsing what I was going to say in my moms room when Chanel happened to come in. I hurriedly hid the box underneath a shirt on the bed. Chanel of course decided to sit on the bed and was about to move the shirt, so I had to dive onto the bed to protect the surprise!! There were a few more obstacles along the way on the day. On our drive to the location, the car we were in got stuck and was very close to rolling down a hill....with the ring in it!!! Also the spot where I wanted to do it was taken by a guy with a professional camera equipment setup that was waiting until sunset, so I had to pull him over to the side and let him know the situation. Well when the time came everything that I rehearsed and practiced was thrown out the window as soon as Chanel saw the ring and realized what was happening. It is very hard to propose to someone when they are crying haha! I told her I needed her to "stop crying for a second, so I could ask her a question." To this day I'm still not sure if she every technically said "yes," but her reaction said it all. I couldn't be happier!!