I remember Joseph in some of my classes during undergrad. He always participated, and he stood out while I tried to be as quiet as possible (so he definitely does not remember me from that time). Once I was in grad school, I got a job at the writing center and lo and behold, my former classmate also worked there. It took a few years but eventually he became a friend instead of just a coworker. And eventually, that friend label fell off as we both began to develop a crush that has led us here.

On my birthday, we woke up in our hotel in Pacific Grove. We started off the day with my free Starbucks drink in downtown Monterey and then headed to breakfast at First Awakenings. After breakfast we went to the Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey and then spent the day at the Aquarium where we saw otters, jellyfish, and penguins. We then went back to our hotel room to wait until sunset when we went to Asilomar Gazebo at Asilomar beach. We walked to the gazebo and saw a lady was also there enjoying the sunset. I went to grab a bottle of water and then Joseph asked her to leave (she was super sweet and left). As the sun began sank below the horizon, my love got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes, and we continued to watch the sun set as I also took a million pictures. We then headed over to the Sandbar and Grill and had a celebratory dinner.