We grew up in the same very small hometown, but somehow managed not to "officially" meet until much later in life. I went to Elementary and middle school with Chase's siblings. I even (unknowingly) cheered Chase on for many football games when we were little. When we began high school together, Chase and I saw each other in the hallways, but we were never formally introduced. We graduated High School and attended different colleges. When we were in college in 2012, a mutual friend of ours threw a Christmas party in our hometown. We were both home for the holidays, attended the party and "officially" met each other. We immediately hit it off. After about 5 years of getting to know each other, becoming friends and graduation, we both moved back to our hometown. We decided to give it a shot (after some pretty impressive convincing by Chase) and we're so happy we did. It was well worth the wait!

In October 2019, I suggested we take a trip to our favorite beach (Pine Knoll Shores, NC). Chase said he had a day of activities planned for us! Chase is NOT a planner-so at that point, I was becoming a little bit suspicious. We had brunch at our favorite diner, walked around Fort Macon State Park and had dinner reservations in Beaufort later that day. Chase told me that I needed to be ready for dinner at a very specific time, and I surprised him by being ready EARLY (for probably the first time in my life). He suggested we go for a walk on the beach before dinner. We were almost the only people on the beach. There was a very cute dog running around with his owners, and they were taking pictures of him. We walked on the beach and picked up shells. I noticed Chase was lagging behind, so I turned around and he was on one knee. We both cried and I said yes, only then realizing that the cute dog's photographer was actually there for us! She captured every special moment and a beautiful sunset.