You could say it all started in May of 2012, when I was invited down to Big Corona with some friends to play beach volleyball and everyone with us knew James and I wanted to be partners. But a select few of you know that this wasn't the first time we had caught each others eye. Almost exactly a year prior, we had an innocent little "thing" as we called it sophomore year of high school. But being that I was an independent 16 year old, I wasn't quite ready to settle down with one guy so soon, and James was still a pretty hot commodity. As our paths began to cross more and more, I slowly started to recognize how perfect this handsome, tall, quiet guy was. James and I never had classes together, but there was an excitement in knowing I could run into him if I went to get ice at the same time the football boys were getting wrapped up in the training room. Volleyball practice run-ins turned into hanging by his Suburban on our morning break, Facebook messaging every day, and then him finally asking me out to "lunch". First dates in high school were about as romantic as a quick drive down the street to Jamba Juice. James was smooth, confident, and eager to introduce me to old school country music and waterskiing. I don't think he realized how quickly he had won me over. Fast forward 3 months, after lots of miscommunication and attempted tries at sharing how we felt about each other, he finally said I love you and I quickly said it back. We were inseparable for the next year, dreading the thought of leaving for college at opposite ends of the country.

I knew Brooke was the one since the beginning. It’s hard not to know with someone as special as her. We talked countless times about marrying each other one day, but it seemed almost unfair to have met the right one when you’re only 16. We were realistic about the challenges of going away to different colleges. Although Auburn and UCLA provided some of the best memories of our lives, we walked hand in hand through some very hard times together. With a lot of patience, our faith in God and trust in each other carried us through those 4 years and brought us even closer. You may ask why I waited 9 years to pop the question. My response to that is I really wanted to wait for a pandemic to hit before planning a wedding. I asked her father, Grant, for his blessing while we were up in Lake Arrowhead for a group ski trip (1 week before the lockdown). Brooke has a knack for knowing what everyone is always doing, so I had to sneak out early in the morning to go over to Grant’s house. After about 45 minutes, Grant and I both realized I should get back before anyone noticed. I drove over to the nearest convenience store, picked up a dozen stale donuts and some gas station quality fruit to use as cover and drove back to the cabin where everyone was staying. When I walked into the cabin, I was greeted with plenty of eye raises… no one thought I was this generous if you can believe that. Fortunately, they were all exhausted from the night before and too hungry to care much.

Being that Brooke was the first great-grandchild to Virginia, Judy’s grandmother, she was gifted her wedding ring, which I knew was something Brooke always wanted to be proposed to with. She had a very close relationship with her and it was special to be able to use her diamond to design something that Brooke would love. On August 12, 2020, I drove Brooke down to Crystal Cove. My brother’s fiancé, Heidi, had family in town and Brooke was under the impression that we were going for a touristy sunset happy hour and dinner with them. When we were walking down to the beach, Brooke started to sense my nerves and reached for the outside of my pocket to see if there was a ring box. Luckily she searched the wrong pocket and we kept walking. As we got to the cliff overlooking the water, she saw her friends and family holding a “Will You Marry Me?” sign. As she turned around, I was down on one knee. The best decision of my life.