We're Getting Married!

Let's set the stage: The end of Sophomore year in high school. 16 years old. Awkward as heck. We were each sent by our respective high schools to a HOBY Leadership conference for the weekend. Our groups were combined for a project to organize a Lemonade stand for Alex's Lemonade Stand which supports cancer research. The First Interaction: Cheyenne and one of her friends/groupmates walked up to (yes, you read that correctly...Cheyenne initiated. And it was her idea. Her friend was way more nervous.) a small group of people from Josh's group (Joshua included) and asked if anyone would like to accompany them through the parking lot to the shopping center to promote our lemonade stand (She isn't shy all the time. Crazy, right?). Josh is the only one who took the girls up on their offer. The Foundation: We then proceeded to spend the entire afternoon (2-3 hours, really) making jokes, doing silly cheers on the sidewalk to get more customers, sharing water, and just having an all-around good time. Was it Love At First Sight, you ask? I would say no. But it was most definitely a solid Friendship At First Sight...and I am more thankful for that than anything else. I could not have asked for a better way to meet the love of my life.

After talking on Facebook (remember Facebook?) almost every day for the entire summer after we met Josh made a few visits back to the Central Coast to see Chy. Eventually, after a year and a half of friendship, Josh finally asked Chy to be his girlfriend. Obviously, she said yes. Then ensued the 7 and a half long years of long distance (with some instances of longer distance thrown in also). We dated on the west coast. We dated on the east coast. We dated with one of us on the west coast and the other on the east coast. We dated so hard...and so hard was the long distance dating. Surprised we made it? Sometimes we are too...but it became clear that things get sweeter the more you have to work for them.

Throughout our 8 years of dating, we always loved going to Grover Beach. The place we had our first "date," if you will. We walked toward Pismo along the sand...toward where Cheyenne's sisters, Nicole and Colleen, were waiting for us in the trees. Cheyenne will tell you she knew it was coming; Josh will say she couldn't have known everything...but her sisters sure did. This is why you see the beautiful picture at the bottom of this page, taken by Nicole, of Josh professing his love for Cheyenne, and asking her to spend the rest of her life with him. Our love has come full circle, taking a lap around the country at least once. We're so excited to close the loop, and begin our lives truly together, with our friends and family in attendance on our big day.