Our story begins with pain. No, really, aside from each of us meeting the one we’d choose to spend our life with, we met during a delightfully painful workout at our favorite gym. Kyle was immediately taken aback by Monica’s stunning beauty, small-town charm, and witty humor. Monica was taken aback because Kyle was tall, and the fact that he is the only creature that could effortlessly beat her in a foot race.

Over the next two years, we built a magical and unique relationship. There were late-night dinners, early morning workouts, and the bond that only comes when grown adults with salaries have access to the snack aisle. We traveled, and we fell a little more in love everywhere we went. We took flights, road trips, and boat rides as we built our incredible relationship in the mountains of Montana, the canyons of Utah, the waters of the North Atlantic, and everywhere in between. However, our best trip was a drive just North of Atlanta where we picked up our yellow Labrador puppy, Willow. She’s the best girl. Willow brought us together in a way only a puppy could, and it was a defining phase in our already wonderful relationship.

In July of 2021, we traveled to Acadia National Park in Maine. Among other things, we planned to watch the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, the first place the sun touches American soil. We set an alarm for 1:30 am, and we started our four-mile hike by way of headlamp and Red Bull. Halfway up the mountain, we decided to make a stop to look at the starry sky, and we kid you not, we saw not one, but two shooting stars. We couldn’t make this up even if we tried. We finally made our way to the top of the mountain with a few minutes to spare and shiver before sunrise. Under a down blanket, we talked about how perfect the morning had been already – no tumbles were taken during the hike, we scored the perfect spot to see the sunrise and we were looking at the looming sunrise peek across the horizon reflecting off the Atlantic. At exactly 5:19 am, and under the guise of taking candid photos, Kyle asked Monica to face the sunrise for a picture. Kyle, in the meantime, turned on the video of his camera, dropped to one knee, and asked Monica for her hand in marriage. When Monica turned to face him, her reply was: “That is the easiest yes of my life!” Tears, kisses, and champagne followed. We wanted to shout our engagement from the mountain top and tell all our family and friends, but we knew that no one would be up at this ungodly hour, so we saved the calls and texts until we had arrived back down the mountain. 7/31/21, best day.