Brandon & I met through mutual friends, & a few months after dating, he asked me to go to a car event 12 hours away in the middle of the woods with him. I agreed, & during our first time at Wookies in the Woods, was the first time that Brandon told me that he loved me.

It was our 7th consecutive time going to Wookies in the Woods. This was our first time taking Lexi, so I knew it would be special. Long story short, we went to the scenic lookout on US 129, the Tail of the Dragon, to get our annual photo taken. But this time, our friend who has his own photography business came with, which I thought nothing of. I figured they would just be taking pictures of their cars like usual. After posing a few different times for pictures & being tired of smiling, Brandon said ‘let’s take just one more’. I continued to force my smile (my face was getting tired from all of the pictures), until I saw him from the corner of my eye reach into his pocket & get down on one knee. Thankfully, another friend of ours took a video of the whole thing as well, because I am pretty positive that I blacked out. I had absolutely no idea; I was completely in shock. Everything was more than perfect. The location meant a lot to the both of us, we were surrounded by friends we have made from all over the U.S. together, & he did all of the right things leading up to that moment. I later found out that he had a conversation with my father before we left, & he also contacted my best friend, who I have been friends with since preschool. The three of us are very close, & he even included her in his decision about which ring to buy. But, he did end up picking it out on his own, which makes me love it even more. There were still a few more days left of the event, & during the dinner we have with everyone (over 500 people), the representative from Volkswagen of America mentioned us in his speech & congratulated us. Brandon also won an award for his car, in which they made us both get up in front of everyone at the dinner so that everyone else could congratulate us as well. The moment was more than I could have ever dreamed of, & is something that I will never forget. I am so lucky to be able to call Brandon my husband in August of 2020.