COVID RUINED EVERYTHING

Dan and I were introduced by our mutual friend, Erin. He had just put roots down in his first apartment in Omaha and she wanted to help him make friends in a new city (we all know now that is not something he ever needs any help with). We clicked right away but after I asked him to put his number in my phone I thought I'd never hear from him again. Even though it was our first time ever meeting, once he started to type in his number his name popped up as an existing contact.......... Stunned (me) and confused (both of us), we exchanged a few awkward and suspicious looks...I nervously stumbled over my words trying to find some seemingly not-stalkerish explanation how this could be possible as he handed my phone back to me. I can remember asking "Uhhh?? Have we met before???" We have our theories today (Erin, I'm looking at you) but the mystery has never been solved for certain. It must not have scared him too bad because two days later I called him on a Sunday morning and told him to cancel all his plans for the day because he was picking me up for bloody marys and we were going to a BBQ. We haven't been apart since.

I had been planning how I was going to propose to Brooke for months and finally found the perfect opportunity when we were discussing what we might want to do for a vacation. Brooke and I planned on surprising Ashton with the trip he had been wanting to go on for so long, which was a cruise. Ashton had been watching videos of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas for about 3 years, so we decided that was going to be the best vacation that we could take and gave it to him as a present for Christmas. This cruise also put my plan of how I would propose to Brooke into action. I had finally selected the ring (which the poor saleswoman worked hard for) and asked her dad and Ashton for permission. Now I just had to figure out how to sneak it onto the ship without her knowing. When the day came, Ashton helped me find the perfect time when he noticed that they were doing professional photos on the grand staircase of the ship. It was formal night so we patiently waited for Brooke to get ready to go out to dinner (she was suspicious as to why we were being so patient) and set out to pop the question. As we waited in line for the few couples in front of us to get our pictures taken, I could feel my heart pound out of my chest until it was our turn. After we got up on the staircase, we took a few normal family photos and the photographer (who I sneakily told beforehand) asked Ashton to come down and then I remember the shocked look on Brookes face when i went down to one knee. I am so glad that she said yes so that i could breath again and slowly felt the color come back to my face. In the end, all the planning had finally come to fruition and we were so thrilled! Ashton got to go on the vacation he had been dreaming about and I got to come home with the best souvenir, a fiance!

We made the difficult decision to cancel our big wedding in Omaha. The health and safety of all our loved ones is most important and we don’t want to put any of you at unnecessary risk. We were so excited to have all our favorite people in one room but we know this was the only responsible choice. We appreciate all the love, support, and kind words we’ve received from all of you over the past six months. We hope some time in the next few years we’ll have the opportunity to try again. Until then please stay healthy and accept our love from a safe social distance ❤️ All our love, Mr & Mrs Eventually Edwards