I don’t even remember how we originally met. Chip and I have been Facebook friends for over 10 years thanks to being in the same hometown. I may or may not have thought he was a cutie in high school and enjoyed watching him play soccer when my high school played his. We had the occasional MSN messenger small talk but thankfully nothing came to fruition then. I say thankfully because it’s all about timing, ya’ll. My heart and mind weren’t yet ready for someone like Chip. Fast forward to March 2018, social media works in my favor with this guy once again. He saw a picture I posted of myself the day before (more on that later) where I tagged Lexington, Kentucky. He started a conversation via Facebook messenger and said “Hey, what’s going on? How are you?” And I gave the typical response along with “long time no talk!” Even though I could barely remember the last time we had talked; I just remembered we had conversed at some point. He asked if I lived in Lexington as he had just moved there last month. He was seeking recommendations for the area, which after a few messages somehow turned into him suggesting we try said recommendations together, as well as him eventually getting my number. Two weeks later, we went on our first date to recommendation number one: My favorite coffee shop — Chocolate Holler. We caught up on the last 10 years and went on a walk downtown (I was cold and wearing booties but the man likes to walk so we walked 🤣). It was enough for us both to realize we were interested. It was a slow burn but with more walks in appropriate shoes, really spicy indian food, some board exam study dates and several episodes of impractical jokers later, we realized we were all in and he became my best friend. We now have two dogs (+ two cats), a house and an upcoming wedding. I’m now counting down the days to be able to marry this man. He’s humble, kind, intellingent and caring. I feel undeserving at times, but I’m truly grateful he’s mine!

The Facebook photo spot Chelsea posed in front of is the spot where I proposed. I thought Chelsea looked pretty and wanted to get to know her. Little did I know where it would lead! It’s New Years Eve 2019, and I planned to take her to get coffee after work at Chocolate Holler (I wanted us to have coffee from the place of our first date). I have terrible luck so of course it was closed! We grabbed coffee from another shop and headed to the Summit as I told her I had to “pick up something”. Once we get there, I take her to the spot and remind her of how great everything has been for us since! Of course this whole moment was blurred as I was nervous. Then, as planned, Chelsea’s parents come out of the restaurant behind us. Her dad has his phone camera out snapping photos, and her mom is just smiling from ear to ear. When it’s time for me to get down on one knee, I tell her to let go of our dog. He proceeds to run circles around us 18 times before we finally catch his leash and hand him off to Chelsea’s mom. I try to open the ring box with coffee in hand about to spill so Chelsea grabs the coffee for me. She then realized she had two cups of coffee and had no hands to accept the ring! So she bent down real quick to put them on the ground and we were good-to-go (Chelsea’s words). I then get on one knee to ask Chelsea to marry me! I couldn’t remember her even saying yes since it was all a blur but she promised she did! We went to look at the pictures and her dad shows us the proposal photo he took. We then realized the only photo he captured was of Chelsea bending down to put the coffee cups on the ground. Chelsea wanted to have a normal one “for the gram” (whatever that means) and we ended up re-enacting the main event for a quick photo-op. I will say the re-enactment went more smoothly! I know our future together will be filled with much adventure, love and happiness. There’s no one else I’d rather spend life with! I love you, Chelsea Elaine!