We said yes to forever!

We first crossed paths at the graduate school department’s welcome event at a local brewery. A friend handed each of us a dog, and—true to form—the dogs immediately pulled toward one another, dragging us right into each other’s orbit. We started talking, and from that moment on the collision course was set. Later that night, Brian managed to force two friends, a bike, and both dogs into his tiny Ford Focus before finally working up the courage to ask me out. The very next day, we went on our first date… and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

We arrived in Houston around 2, dropped our things at the hotel—where we were surprised with a room upgrade—and then headed straight to the natural science museum. We started with the butterfly exhibit since Brian had never seen it before, and the butterflies were absolutely showing off for us. After that, we wandered into the fossil halls, like we always do. We moved through the trilobites, and then Brian made a beeline for the velociraptor (Deinonychus) fossil. We stood there talking for a bit, and he began telling me how special the museum—and that fossil—had become to us. Before I could piece it together, he gently turned me to face him, dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked me to marry him. I, of course, said "yes, oh my God, yes, yes, yes". And much like life, love found a way.

Brian proposed with Grandma Amburn's (Brian's Dad's Mom) diamond ring, and while this ring had significant meaning to us. We decided to incorporate diamonds from a ring that Granda Kathy (Gabrielle's Mom's Mom) had given Gabrielle when she was in College. Together they created a antique looking three diamond ring. This ring, to them, represents, the past, present and future.