We connected through one of those unique dating apps called Coffee Meets Bagel just before Christmas in 2016. After a few dates after the new year we walked away from each other as the timing wasn't right. Bret quit dating and instead got a dog. Ace and him were going to live a wonderful life together but luckily Lacey never gave up on him and a few months later had the courage to reach out and see if there was still a spark. Her nerves were tested as she waited a response. Minutes seemed like hours. Hours seemed like days. Bret was in the middle of a training class for Ace and didnt see the message until after the class was over. He couldnt have been more happy to see that message waiting for him when the class ended. His nerves were overcomed by joy seeing a message from the one who got away. We soon met up for our second first date and haven't looked back since. Lacey is the best thing that ever happened to Bret and he is just happy that she is willing to settle at this point in her life. Our relationship has grown everyday. We have certainly had our challenges related to our immediate families but rather than pulling us apart, it brought us closer together. Those situations allowed us to lean on each other for strength and come out the other side knowing God gave each of us the perfect match. The Lord certainly had a plan, and it wasnt until we let him take the lead that our relationship blossomed and our lives blessed.

One of our favorite places is down on the beach in Gearhart, OR. After Lacey picked out her dream ring in the beginning of September, the challenge was convincing her that i couldn't afford to pay for it for a couple months. This allowed me to put my plan in place. If you don't know Lacey, let me just say that anything out of the ordinary she will question. So as i organized everything and everyone i had to make her believe she was in charge of the decisions being made. The following week Lacey's dad came over to her Nan's house. With Nan and him in the room I asked for his approval to marry his daughter. I think it was the whiskey that did it but he said yes. I laid out my plan to propose and asked for their help. It was really important to have Nan be there for this moment. Our routine is to always go from the beach to the McMenamin's bar for a drink on the patio with the dogs. I wanted to continue this tradition after the proposal but this time as we walked up David, Andrea and Nan would be waiting with smiles on their face to embrace our new established commitment. In order to make the proposal happen I recruited a team to help me out. I asked Van to put his skills to the test with recording our special moment with his drone and I will say he killed it. If you haven't seen the video shame on you. Alex volunteered to take pictures and hide like a ninja in the grass dunes. I don't know how but I was able to convince Lacey to dress up and do her makeup when we went to the beach by suggesting i needed a new Facebook cover photo, which if you know me i don't care about my Facebook photos. It took some practice and coordinating, i would like to say went smoothly but we all know the players at play here. I will say it turned out perfectly. I thought for sure Lacey had caught on to my plan but I was able to pull it off perfectly. It ended up being a perfect day and we had the beach almost to ourselves to share our special moment, followed by friends and family.