Our story dates back to 2008 when Brady was a chubby, freckle-faced 7th grader and I, an equally chubby, 6th grader. We attended the same tiny middle school, so while we didn’t hang out in the same crowd, our paths crossed often. When I entered high school we gravitated to each other quickly. Brady was actually my first date to a high school dance when I asked him to Sadie Hawkins my freshman year. Unfortunately, at that point he was much more interested in fishing and hunting than he was a girlfriend, and we drifted apart only months into our relationship. Fast forward almost four years and one of us (we debate this to this day) reached out to the other and we quickly became permanent fixtures in each other’s lives. We spent 12 days straight together before Brady left for his first commercial fishing trip. Within a month of reconnecting, on July 13, 2015, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend while watching the sunset at Ona Beach.

Brady and I are the WORST about keeping secrets from each other. We exchange birthday, anniversary, and Christmas gifts weeks in advance because we're so excited. For this reason, I didn't think there was any way he would be able to surprise me with the proposal but I was very wrong. He, along with help from our friends Ryan and Renae, planned a trip to Hoodoo to propose in the snow. I was so in the dark that I tried to leave the house in sweatpants and a Seahawks beanie but thankfully Renae convinced me to change. I had no idea what was going on until Brady got down on one knee amidst the snow covered pine trees and asked me to marry him. As if that weren't perfect enough, later that evening he surprised me further when a small group of friends joined us for a celebratory dinner at my favorite restaurant.