Joe and I were set up by a mutual friend who invited us to go wine tasting. I knew I was being set up, but Joe claims he had no idea. We instantly hit it off, or maybe it was the wine, but it wasn’t great timing for the either of us and Joe was playing hard to get. Our friend then set us up again on New Years Eve, again Joe claims he didn’t know that it was a set up. We went to The Warehouse (a local bar) in Zillah and rekindled while dancing and listening to the band, American Honey. After that night, we were with each other constantly until I moved to Scottsdale for a travel assignment and Joe moved back to St. Louis. We did long distance for 5 months and then decided we were going to take a major leap of faith and I would move to St. Louis and live with Joe. Here we are three years later - having lived in four different cities/towns together, two dogs and a ring.

Joe and I were back in Zillah for my brother’s graduation. After Joe spent the day running around Zillah and asking all of my family members for permission to propose, he did so during a BBQ we were having with family and friends. After asking me multiple times to play spike-ball and me declining, my mom (knowing what was about to happen) finally yelled at me to go play. Once I got up Joe asked for everyone’s attention and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was absolutely shocked and had no idea it was coming, and him doing it in front of my family was super special. It was perfect.