Joshua and Darien met for the first time at Newport Tide Pools. Immediately there was a connection. They were sending novels of texts back and forth for weeks before they talked until the sun set that night. They bonded over their love of God, the outdoors, travel, music, television, movies--everything really. This led to a series of first dates that included skateboarding, mini-golfing, movie nights, spa nights, thrifting, camping, Montage beach nights, and so much more. They slowly started planning their weekends around each other, and before they knew it, it became their whole lives around each other. Fitting in FaceTime dates, visiting each other during the work week despite the distance, and being inseparable on the weekends. The two of them were growing to be inseparable.

Joshua and Darien shared many interests when they met. They also discovered new hobbies together, one of them being paddleboarding. For Joshua and Darien's 1 year anniversary, they took paddleboards out to windy Naples and had quite the adventure. Through lots of trial and error, they made their way through the path with a couple bumps on the board along the way, when Josh said to pull over to the side to take a break. Joshua, notorious for vlogging everything, told Darien to get her phone out to give an update. That's when Joshua said, "and for the people watching out there, will you marry me?" and pulled out a ring with a diamond the size of a thumb. In pure shock, Darien shouts, "no!", and Joshua scratches his head saying, "that's not the reaction I was hoping for" and drops it in the water beneath them. With a full gasp, Darien couldn't utter any words except, "Joshua, wait what?". Absolutely stunned, Darien and Joshua just sit on the floating paddleboards in a solid 30 seconds of silence. Once the cameras are off, Joshua says laughing, "that wasn't the real ring" and Darien is still in disbelief thinking what the heck is going on? Joshua, attempting to balance on one knee on a paddleboard again asks for her hand in marriage. Darien says "without a doubt, yes", and they go to a dock nearby where Joshua puts the (real) ring on her finger. Darien, realizing what just happened, says "you really brought my ring out to the water?!?!" and they laughed and smiled the entire way back to the shore.

Anyone that knows Joshy knows he loves a good deal, he loves a good story, and he LOVES a good prank. For MONTHS, he had been faking me out getting down on one knee and RIGHT BEFORE he actually proposed to me, he faked me out one last time. The video makes me die laughing every single time. Happy to be signing up for a lifetime of laughs with my favorite guy, but I'll get him back. No doubt about it.

Months before asking Darien to be my girlfriend I told her, "I don't want to scare you, but I am looking for my future wife. And at this point in my life, I would not ask someone to be my girlfriend unless she had the qualities I was looking for in my wife." When I asked Darien to be my girlfriend on July 15th, 2021, I think a part of me knew that she would one day be my wife. Fast forward to 2022, I knew I was going to propose and I knew I wanted it to be a story for the ages. A story that when our kids ask, "Mommy how did Daddy propose to you?" it would bring horror, shock, laughter, and joy. Dropping a fake ring into the water promised all of that and more. When I proposed with the real ring, one of the things I said was, "I promise you a life of adventure and surprises," the ring drop was a glimpse of the promised adventure of a life time.