In August 2018, Mel and Ryan's lives changed forever. Mel had just moved to Stockton, CA to work as a Residence Director at the University of the Pacific and Ryan was living in Sacramento, CA spending his hours as a Security Guard. Neither of them knew they were going to find love...but love comes when you least expect it. On August 23rd, 2018, Mel and Ryan met for the first time. From that moment on, they never wanted to spend a minute apart from each other!

Not much of a story...but they just knew!

A couple of days before Ryan proposed, Ryan reached out to Mel while he was at work saying that we should go on more date nights. He asked what the plans were for June 4th since Mel typically has every minute of every day planned. Surprisingly, Mel had no plans for the day. Ryan asked Mel to help him brainstorm dates we could do for that day. Horseback riding? No. Nice Dinner? No. Drive on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay? Sure! Ryan and Mel looked up different beaches and stops along the drive. Little did Mel know, she was helping plan HER PROPOSAL. Throughout the planning, Ryan suggested Pistachio Beach. Mel looked it up and didn't think much of it, but Ryan insisted on having it on our list of stops. June 4th showed up and Mel & Ryan took off on a drive that changed their lives forever. They grabbed some burgers from a local restaurant in Santa Cruz and parked their car overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Then, they set off on the beautiful drive. Mel still had no idea and was just enjoying the view and smell of the ocean. At one stop, they even saw sea lions playing in the water and otters floating through the currents. Finally, the stop for Pistachio Beach. Ryan said let's stop. Mel said let's keep going. Ryan pushed again...Let's stop. They took their last steps as boyfriend and girlfriend into the sand. There was nobody else around them. Just the water, sand, wind...and some cows staring. Ryan looked Mel in the eyes and Mel knew at that moment. AND WELL MEL SAID YES ONCE RYAN KNEELED!

We are following the Chinese Calendar! Each year on Chinese New Year, there are dates provided that are lucky or not lucky. By the time we got engaged, there were only two dates that were lucky for us. And honestly... we didn't want to tempt our fate or wait until the next Chinese Year to see what dates would be good or bad. Plus, this is the best year according to the calendar to get married along with our date due to our birth signs.