We met while living in Washington, D.C. and playing on a Clemson Alumni Softball League. We had both been playing in the league for months but had never been at the same game and it was one of my last games before I moved to Charleston. Colin was a little shy (shocking, I know) so we didn't talk much until the end of the game. Our team was losing and we needed a little cheering up so from my catcher folding chair, yes I was playing catcher in a folding chair, I jumped up and gave a high kick and yelled "Let's Go Tigers!" Then from the right outfield, Colin yelled "HIGH KICK" and gave a very impressive high kick. I thought to myself, "Well this guy is funny." He walked my friend and I back to our cars after the game and after we departed ways, I said to my friend Megan, "He was kind of cute." She responded with "Uh yea where have you been this whole time?" So Megan convinces me to run over and invite him out that night. Of course, he already had plans but ended up getting my phone number (Colin tries to tell everybody that I asked for his number but that's just not true). Later that week we went on a date that ended up lasting SIX hours and found out that we had been living two blocks away from each other for six months. Despite my plans to move we were committed to making our relationship work and here we are today, getting married!

It originally started with a simple idea of being together in a simple place at a special time. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt I needed something that was really going to surprise her. While casually talking with my mom about their trip to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington, it hit me; a last minute notice demanding Kellee-Morgan pack her bags and get ready to head to the airport. Its Kellee-Morgan we’re talking about here, so I decided to give her 24 hours notice so she could plan her all her outfits. I still hadn’t figured out the actual plan of how I was going to pop the question. All I knew was that I was going to be around the people I loved at a special place that I knew would end up being an unforgettable experience. About halfway through our stay, in the afternoon of what was turning out to be a beautiful day, I asked my sisters to ask Kellee-Morgan and I to head down to the rocky coast of the island, a spot akin to humpback whale watcher enthusiasts, to take photos. Of course Kellee-Morgan was trying to nap, so I might have slightly aggressively told her that she can sleep when she’s dead. In hindsight probably could have said something more sly. While down by the water, standing on the jagged and treacherous rock face, I contemplated my down-on-one-knee approach without either of us ending up injured or swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Standing at what I believed to be the perfect spot, a rustic lighthouse in the background, waves crashing around us with the afternoon setting sun, we took turns facing the ocean with outstretched arms. When it was Kellee-Morgan’s turn, I wasn’t nervous, or scared. I knew this was a moment I had been thinking about long before she probably realizes. The only thing I could focus on was the how beautiful she was in that moment, and how beautiful our lives were about to become after asking that simple four worded question. Needless to say, the entire experience is one I will never forget.