In the summer of 2020, yes the midst of the pandemic. Josh was coming back from patrol in Mexico, where his ship stopped on the Oregon coast for fuel. During this short time, Josh opened his Bumble app and stumbled across Marli. Of course he swiped RIGHT, and we instantly hit it off. We quickly realized that we didn't live an hour from each other, we actually lived eight hours away. By then, we both were too invested and wanted to meet in person! Marli's dad said the only way that she would be able to meet a stranger she met on an app was if he drove eight hours from Port Angeles, WA to Medford, OR to then go camping with Marli and the whole family over 4th of July weekend. It didn't take much to convince Josh, and plans were made for us to officially meet! After eight hours of driving, Josh finally met Marli in her dads driveway, then met her little brother and sister three minutes later, and the rest of the family 1 hour later. Let's just say that weekend was the first of many trips between Port Angeles and Medford.

This past June, we traveled back to Medford, OR to see Marli's family before moving to Elizabeth City, NC for Josh's job. Josh popped the big question at Marli's brother's graduation party (yes, he asked him first). We danced to 'our song', "Better Today" by Coffee Anderson. Josh then got down on one knee, catching Marli completely off guard! Of course the answer was, YES!