Then I met you and you met me... and all the rest is history

We met on this newfangled app called Tinder. We went as far as reopening our old accounts to see if our old conversations were still on there...no such luck. Kayla had something about loving coffee, wine and tacos on her bio. Josh asked what kind of coffee Kayla liked, not expecting her to completely coffee nerd out and get all deep into the intricacies of coffee. While it may have seemed that Kayla was utterly fascinating and smart, in retrospect Kayla may have come on a little strong... get it? Strong.... like coffee? Ok moving on...

Josh drove 90 miles to meet me for the coffee. I suggested this on purpose in case the date was a total bomb, I wouldn't be the one stuck with the long ride home. I decided that if sparks flew over coffee, then we would move onto First Date Phase 2: Tree Lighting Ceremony. Josh met me at my car door when I arrived to Bigby. I imagine he saw me emerge from my car in slow motion, with my eyes twinkling and my hair flowing in the wind. I'm sure that's how it happened. Internal monologue: "He's so handsome - ugh and that smile! Oh, and he's opening the the door for me... what a gentleman! What's that? What would I like? I'll take a soy latte please. Let me just get my card...(slowly fiddles around in my purse) Oh, You've got it? Oh well thank you! (you big spender you)" I loved Josh's humor right away - I could see it even through his nervousness. He wanted to know everything about me and thought I was funny too! The conversation was effortless, and man, my cheeks already hurt from smiling so much! I suggested Phase 2. We hopped in my car and headed into downtown towards the ceremony. The temp was in the teens and a blistering wind - but it honestly didn't matter. We laughed it off as we ducked in and out of hot cocoa stops, hid in doorways and walked backwards the entire way to avoid the wind gusts. After a couple laps around town, and losing all feeling in extremities, we headed towards my car. To warm up, we sat in the heat in my car, listening to old school country while thawing out. Abruptly, Josh says, "Well... I guess that's it! It's been fun. Have a good night." and gets out. I was SO confused - I was CERTAIN it had gone so well! But that was a sprint out if I'd ever seen one. Defeated, I returned to my apartment, replaying the night to see where it went wrong. Finally, after he drove the hour and a half back home, Josh texted me. Josh: "So... I think I stepped in dog poop and got it in your car." Kayla: "Well... that's shitty!"

So I decided to let that "shit" go and agreed to go on a second date with Josh. The parts where we were freezing our butts off, only to be saved from turning into ice sculptures with our laughter and heat generated by awkward nervousness, definitely outweighed the mess he made of my car. I think that Josh told me of his plan to take me to the Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo the same night he informed me of the poop in my car. I was really trying to play things really cool, and not let him in super fast - but I was so excited and giddy for that date. I met him in Birch Run, which was an hour from where I was living at the time and about an hour from the zoo. I parked in an Applebee's parking lot and got in what turned out to be Josh's mom's vehicle. He let me have control of the radio and this may have been when I knew just how happy Josh made me. He sang along to songs with me - but he kept looking at me with those gorgeous eyes of his when I sang, just listening. Singing with my family is an act I literally get so emotional about - I felt like I wasn't able to find someone that would sing along with me because Josh was out there picked out for me already and I wasn't to be distracted by any posers! We were almost to the zoo when Josh informed me he had purchased the "VIP Rudolph package." I had no idea what that meant but I awkwardly smiled like a fool and said, "Oh cool! [stupid nervous giggle]" I soon found out when we arrived at the ticket booth, that this meant that we got 3D glasses and Rudolph noses to parade around the park with. And you better believe we did just that. We laughed so much. And it was SO COLD. I brought lots of layers and two pairs of gloves. He wasn't so prepared. I kept offering my gloves to him, but he stubbornly refused. What he did do was grab my hand for the first time - which was probably just so I can keep it warm for him.

Just before Josh and I met, I was actually at a crossroad in my life where I was really deciding if Michigan was where I needed to be, or if I wanted to go back West and pick up my life where I left off. But I just felt in my heart I was being led to stay put. In the week leading up to the 2nd date, we had plenty of time to text and learn each other's story a little more. At this time, I was learning a lot about myself, really growing my hobbies and learning what I wanted to do with my life. So I was excited to share all about myself while I was learning about him too. I told him that I liked crafting (I had just learned how to knit, was painting, and had done a few string art projects for my family's Christmas presents... so I deemed myself a crafter). In our conversations, I told him I wanted to really see Michigan and do all the things I'd never done before - go to all the festivals, go skiiing, go ice skating, visit the Upper Penninsula, go apple picking, etc. After spending time with foam red balls on our noses and frost bite, Josh asked me if I was ready to head out. Once in the car, he told me he had a final surprise for me. Josh drove us to the center of Downtown Detroit. It was actually my first time being in this part of the city. He pointed to a giant Christmas tree and an ice skating rink and told me that was where we were going! I was so nervous... In theory I wanted to go ice skating, but I'm the biggest klutz on the planet and Murphy's law seems to follow me everywhere. Plus, I was sure as a Michigander he would skate circles around me and and I wasn't about to be showed up...But I put those thoughts in the back of my head and went on to have the time of my life scooting inch by inch on the ice holding onto his arm. He wasn't good at it either, in case you were wondering. We returned our skates and went to warm up by the fire pit next to the rink under the tree. He asked if I had fun - I said yes and we had our magical mushy gushy first kiss.

Kayla and I planned a trip to Utah so I could finally meet her family. During the trip we had a variety of fun. From hiking the red rocks, exploring St. George, going to Ethen’s football game, dinner out with friends and family and games with family. The hard part on the trip was finding the right time to ask Kayla’s mom and grandma for Kayla’s hand in marriage. But the time did come the last night we were in town. Kayla had a headache so she laid down to take a nap. Tina was on her computer doing some miscellaneous tasks for work. This was my opportunity to ask Tina, so gathered my courage and asked - and I was granted permission. Later that day we went over to Kayla’s grandma’s (Jody) house for dinner. We ate dinner and talked outside for a while. Time flew and it was time to leave. We made our way to the door and every walked out this was my opportunity to asked for permission. I asked permission and everything was set in motion.

After I got the permission I started researching the rings and diamonds and getting advice from family and friend. My brother Ryan and I planned a day to go ring shopping after work. We spent the evening going from store to store looking at rings but didn’t really find anything. After many hours of searching I finally found the right ring. I order the ring and waited for it to arrive. My Grandma Nail signed for the ring from UPS and kept it until I could pick it up. I picked the ring up showed the family then hid it in Ryan’s closet so Kayla wouldn’t find it.

Choosing the ring was hard but everything just kept getting harder. Now I had to figure out how to get the ring to the proposal destination. I talked to my parents and they agreed to bring the ring with them. I called them and reminded them multiple times. Needless to say, I was freaking out about not having the ring with me. Once I had all the details worked out it was time to head to Florida. We packed our bags and headed to the Detroit airport. We got about half way there when we realized we forgot Kayla’s passport. We headed back to the house to get the passport then we were off until we realized we weren’t going to make our flight. So, we had to book a new flight that left out of flint. I wasn’t happy and may have snapped due to the stress of the whole situation. We went to Bob Evans to get some breakfast then headed to the airport for our new flight. We had all the time in the world now that we didn’t have to go to Detroit – Our first flight was direct… now we were flying from Flint to Chicago then to Orlando, Florida. When we finally arrived in Florida, we got our rental and headed for the hotel.

Fast forward to 1AM in our hotel rooms, I woke to a giant “thud” from our patio. I thought I dreamed it, and Josh hadn’t stirred, so I drifted back to sleep. Then I heard what sounded like the wind blowing the patio chairs into the door. This time I woke Josh’s butt up. I made him go look outside - partially because I’m blind without my contacts and would probably be staring in the face of a scary thing and not know it was any different than a tree… but also because I was scared out of my mind. He told me that they were working on the roof. I said okay and closed my eyes, and then abruptly opened them back up, jolted out of bed, and ran to the window and said, “It’s 1 o’clock in the freaking morning!” That’s when I heard a man's voice outside. “Babe!” I said, “There is someone on our porch!” I was between opening the door and kicking the crap out of this person and being too scared to move. I yelled out the door, “What the hell are you doing!?” To which the individual reacted by banging on our door even more and saying “I didn’t do it officer.” This guy was cracked out!! Josh told me to get away from the door immediately. I obeyed, and called the front desk – I figured they could come to our rescue quicker than the cops. They took too long, so we went to find someone, with no luck. When we returned, the noise had ceased outside. I made Josh open the door to check. We were on the 2nd floor – and there was a rooftop, topped with gravel, that cascaded from our porch. There were foot prints across this rooftop coming from our porch and the chairs on our porch were knocked over like someone had left in a hurry. WHAT!? Upon checkout I was ready to give the hotel a piece of my mind, but they were waiting for me with an offer for two comped nights and a sincere apology for what turned out to be another guest that was having a bad reaction to his schizophrenia drugs. So, this is the type of drama you can’t make up that literally follows me…. And Josh wants to marry me haha

Kayla’s family and I spent the day in the Bahamas on the beach and roaming the city streets. We headed back to the boat after sneaking into an all exclusive resort - that we didn’t realize until after we got our drinks for free! But don’t worry we gave a good tip. Kayla left to get ready with her family for dinner - so I ran down to the photographers and told them my plan and asked to get a time for them to come over to the table so they knew the plan. They were a pain in the ass and wouldn't let me arrange it until we got to dinner. Uh, Impossible since she would be with me! I went back to the room and asked that my dad help me out. Come dinnertime, I was so nervous I couldn’t eat. Not because I thought she’d say no. She’d been hinting at me to ask for the last couple months. It was because everyone was there and at this point this is only the second time I got to spend time with her family so it was nerve wracking. The shot master came over and of course we all needed to buy shots! But we decided to wait a few to take them. The time came my dad had arranged for the photographer to open the door next to us and come out... but he wasn’t there. I kept thinking, "Where is this guy? He should be here by now." My nerves got even worse after about 10 minutes, when he finally came walking in. It was time. I started the record on my phone and slid it over to my mom. My dad slid the ring under the table to me. I had to find the perfect moment for Kayla to look away to grab it. The photographer asked Kayla and I to get closer together for a picture - so we did and when Kayla looked away to scoot back in her chair I got down on one knee & opened the ring box. She looked at me completely astonished. I said, "will you marry me?" but that was all that came out of my mouth. I was so nervous I couldn’t say or think of anything else other than, "yes? Yes? Is that a yes?" She finally said yes and we kissed and took cheesy posed pictures at all the photobooths on the ship.

We hope this list never stops growing! Here are a few highlights of some adventures we've had so far: - Various spots in Michigan: Cheeseburger Festival in Caseville, Traverse City, Rochester Hills, Detroit, Kalamazoo - Cruises to: Honduras, Cayman Islands, Belize, Cozumel, Cancun, Catalina Island, Ensanada, Bahamas - Wine Tastings - Beer Festivals: Paddle for Pints, Art on Tap - Myrtle Beach - Golfing - Concerts and Music Festivals: Chris Young, Lake Shake 2017, Jon Pardi, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Brad Paisley, Taste of Country, Brett Eldridge, Midland, Runaway June, Michael Ray, Randy Houser, Justin Moore, Aaron Watson and many many more! - Plays: Lion King, Cinderella, and Wicked - Sporting events: Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers - Florida: Cocoa Beach, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami - Ontario, Canada - Carlsbad, California - St. George, Utah - Park City, Utah - Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio - Phoenix, Arizona - Las Vegas, Nevada - Nashville, Tennessee - Chicago, IL - Buffalo, NY - Washington, DC