We're getting married!

Eli and I met on Christmas day of 2019. Eli's family came to Canada to meet my family because Austin (my brother) and Shivani (Eli's sister) were going to get engaged. I was expecting an awkward few days because I had no idea what to expect with this random family lol. Turns out they were some pretty amazing people and we all got along really well... especially Eli and I. He somehow ended up everywhere I was those few days at Christmas;) We had lots of fun with the families together and then it came to an end. Eli's family left with Austin and Shivani and that was it. End of story. Just kidding! So there was a week after Christmas and then it was New Years. It was around 1 am New Years day and I decided to text Eli "Happy New Years!" Little did I know he was praying on the other end of his phone, falling hard for me and asking God if I was going to be his wife. He said to God, "If she initiates something first, I know she will be my wife one day." After Eli said that prayer, he set his phone down and within seconds I texted that simple text for New Years. And that's how our story started.

When we first met, we definitely didn't expect all that came in 2020 to happen. It was a tough beginning, but we weren't going to give up easily. Eli told me he was interested in me on March 20, 2020, and planned to come visit Canada that week but Covid closed the borders. Each month we wondered what would happen. Then we discovered "Peace Arch Park." Austin and Shivani's wedding happened there and that was the first time we saw each other since Christmas. The day before the wedding we saw each other and within 2 minutes of seeing me he asked me to be his girlfriend. From then on it was a journey of making long distance work and only meeting at the "Peace Arch Park" for 7 months of our relationship. After a year of long distance we finally got to be in the same town and learn how to date normally. And what an adventure it has been.

We had talked about getting engaged over and over again and were looking at rings but never purchased one. I knew he wanted to propose anywhere from the beginning of September to the end of October. I knew he didn't have an engagement ring when I travelled down to Washington so I figured it could be a while until he proposed. Anyways, on the second day we were together in Washington he said "lets go on a fancy picnic together at Katherine Creek."(Katherine Creek is a nearby hike we had done early that summer). So we prepared some food and packed it all up. He kept saying we had to go at 5pm. I was wondering why he was so particular about the time but I was just like "whatever." So we finally left, got to the trailhead, and started hiking. It's a short hike so it didn't take us long to get to the highest point of the trail. We stopped on the trail to set up our picnic. It was a hot day and the sun was beating down. I said "let go set up in the shade of that tree." But Eli was like "I'm too tired." So I just thought "weirdo" and went with it. Then he said "lets dance." So we started dancing and then he said "You ready to do a triple spin?" I was like "what." But before I could think about it he spun me around 3 times and as he spun me I saw him reach into his pocket and pull out the ring box. He ended spinning me and got onto one knee and asked me to marry him. I didn't believe he was actually serious (...He had fake proposed to me a few times before). I kept saying "Is this for real, is this for real!? He points to his sister Renee who was taking pictures from her hiding spot to show that in fact, it was "for real." And he put a ring on it!

We met in 2019 We started dating in 2020 We got engaged in 2021 We are getting married in 2022