Although we went to high school together, we officially "met" in the summer of 2014 after both returning back home to Santa Barbara after a few years away for college (Ryan in NorCal, Katie in SoCal). Like most early twenty-somethings, we ran into each other while out a local bar on State Street. We struck up a conversation, and the rest was history! To our surprise, we later found out that both of us had expressed interest in one another, to a few mutual friends prior to running into each other that night!

After 5 years of dating, 2 years of living together, and the recent addition of our puppy, Jelly- Ryan decided to pop the question, and pulled off the most beautiful and special surprise. We had plans to go out to dinner on a Saturday night, just a regular date night- but meant to celebrate the New Year and a recent job promotion. Ryan sweetened the pot with a surprise for us to attend a "rooftop party" at the Moxi Museum in Downtown Santa Barbara (with drinks, music, etc) before dinner. We toured the museum, grabbed a coffee, then told one of the museum staff that we were there for the rooftop event. He directed us to the elevator, and when the elevator doors opened at the top, there was no rooftop event, just a trail of rose petals with 2 wine glasses and a bottle of wine to share, with a balloon that read "Happy Engagement". It was a beautiful and special moment for us, shared by a few close family members and friends + a professional photographer (see above!). 1.4.2020- best date night yet :)