Wrapping up my freshman year of college, I entered the summer looking for a job that suited my hospitality degree. It was then I applied to and got a job at the Emerson Inn in Rockport, MA, working as a front desk agent. It was there where I met Julie, a coworker that helped train me for the front desk position. As we would work together and chat, she would often talk up one of her sons who would also work at the Emerson Inn in the summer once he returned from college. Once her son, Connor, came back from school to work, we got along right away. We got to know each other while working together, and we soon came to the realization that this was most likely not the first time actually seeing each other. Connor grew up playing peewee football with my brother and remembered seeing his crazy (his words, not mine) blonde and red headed sisters running around on the sidelines, but he didn't remember me. We also share some the same family friends growing up, meaning there was a good chance we have encountered each other without actually knowing it.

After coming off a long year of work for the both of us, we had taken a quick getaway trip to our go-to destination: North Conway, NH. We had planned out our day the date of the proposal: get some breakfast, do some shopping, explore some new landmarks, get some dinner. After doing some shopping in downtown North Conway, we decided to go venture to Echo Lake, which is just on the outskirts of downtown North Conway. We got a little lost getting there and eventually found ourselves driving up this mile long road that lead us to Cathedral Ledge, which sits about 700 feet overlooking Echo Lake. For those who know Kaylyn, you can imagine how uneasy she felt being 700 feet up in the air overlooking the lake. So we drove back down and made our way to Echo Lake, which provided more peace and serenity for us to have our moment. We slowly circle around the lake, enjoying the mountain views in the background as I am frantically trying to find the right time to ask. Then we get to a stopping point as we near the end of our walk. We pull into a small sand area on the lake and sat down, really taking in the beauty and silence the lake and woods provided. As Kaylyn stepped forward to take in the last bit of the lake before this trek ends, I got on my knee, called her name, and I poked her to get her attention. I let her know how much I loved her, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, and I proposed to her. With no hesitation, she said yes, as she gazed into the ring she had been anticipating for quite sometime! We then made our way back to the hotel to shower up and then celebrated the occasion with a private dinner (just a really slow Monday night) at the Wild Rose.