But that's actually not how we met. How we met is a love story of two people who met unconventionally but then everything just fell into place.

So after I graduated from the best University ever (Go Pack), I went to teach English in Korea. I moved back and started dating again and realized that I was not meeting the right people. For my 25th birthday I went on a mountain trip to Boone, I started talking about how I was turning 25 and was starting to worry that I would only date losers. My girlfriend Alyson persuaded me to download a dating app called Tinder and I reluctantly started using it. I started swiping and Tinder felt like just a game until I met Stephen. Stephen and I were messaging so much on it, that I finally gave him my number because I didn't want to risk someone seeing the tinder notifications on my phone. We messaged for about a month and I could not believe that Stephen never asked me out. I was out for drinks with friends and told them about this guy that I have been talking to for a month but still had not met. One of them encouraged me to message him to meet up with us, I believe my text message said something along the lines of "You can meet me out tonight or you can go ahead and delete my number". AND HE CAME TO MEET ME! We met at the Busy Bee in downtown Raleigh and I remember I was drinking my favorite drink "the sting", we hung out all night and the rest is history. Since then we have had so many amazing memories and have really developed our love story. I have found my soul mate and someone who will be my biggest fan through life and there is nothing I can do that will shock him. I cannot wait to marry Stephen and spend the rest of my life with him and Sarang.

If you know me, I'm quiet and introverted. When I graduated from NC State and started working full time, I decided that I needed to start dating, so I signed up for this new app called Tinder. After months of being on the app and having no luck I was thinking about deleting the app. Until one day I saw this cute girl. I swiped right and it was a match. Giving it one last try, I reached out and we began chatting. It started out very casual but I never made the move to actually try and meet her. I've never met someone online and being extremely self conscious, I couldn't imagine her being disappointed in meeting me. After weeks of messaging each other and enjoying our conversations, Ashley gave me an ultimatum; meet her or delete her number. I knew I had to meet her, but was afraid of rejection. Ultimately, meeting this girl was more important than experiencing rejection, so I met her downtown Raleigh that same night. I met her and a couple of her friends at a bar called the Busy Bee, in downtown Raleigh. She was beautiful in her "fun pants", while I was a nervous wreck. As the night went on, I experienced one of the most memorable nights of my life and the start of our lives together began. She helped me find a love in traveling and experiencing new things in life. I fall in love with her more every day and I couldn't imagine myself with anyone else.

So, Ashley hates surprises and she wanted to be prepared for her engagement as much as possible. For part of Ashley's birthday gift, Stephen suggested that they go shop for engagement rings. She was ecstatic! She picked out the ring she wanted and then became so excited in anticipation for becoming a fiancée. This was back in March of 2018. Ashley got her nails done regularly preparing for the day that Stephen would drop down on one knee. Their anniversary in May came by and they celebrated at Second Empire and still no engagement happened. Ashley was in the process of looking for a new job and with all the hectic work life going on, she booked an Airbnb in Boone and said she needed to get away. That Friday before they went away Ashley got a job offer which led her to being ever more stressed. While they were in Boone, Stephen said he wanted to go hiking in Linville Falls, during that hike it was extremely hot and they got lost looking for the waterfalls. They finally found it and at this point Ashley was hangry(angry and hungry) and was already complaining about being hot, tired and wanting to walk back to the car. Stephen insisted that they take a photo on this rock but since people were sunbathing on it, Ashley was insistent on leaving. He asked some guy to take a photo and then they got on a rock in front of the waterfalls After they took their photos, Stephen asked to take a kissing photo and when Ashley opened her eyes, he started to get down on his knee. This is when Ashley blacked out and then before she knew it, Stephen put a ring on her finger. This rock was the rock where they stood 3 years prior and Stephen told Ashley he could see himself marrying her and now this rock was where Ashley got her rock and got engaged to Stephen!