We're getting married!

On my way to work I was traveling through a busy intersection in New Paltz. New York isn't known for the most courteous drivers and yield signs are optional at best. I glanced in my rear view mirror for a split second to assess the traffic merging behind me. Unexpectedly, a taxi driver ahead of me had slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of them. When I looked ahead, it was already too late. I hit the taxi, then the taxi hit the mustang in front of him, and I realized I was in a bit of misfortune. Like a child in trouble on the side of the road, I put sunglasses on to hide my tears. Cars that passed by flung broken pieces of tail lights at my already hurt ego. With every sting, it was a reminder of how late I was for work. Tyler, a police officer at the Town of New Paltz, had worked an overnight shift and was mandated to also work the day shift. Tired, grumpy, and trying to enjoy his first sip of his freshly brewed coffee, he took the call knowing his fellow co worker was tied up and unable to arrive at the scene of the accident. On his way, he griped why people just can't drive in the mornings and bemoaned the entire way there. Unknowing to him, he was about to meet me, a scattered, (slightly) accident prone, and (in his words) a keeper. Unknowing to me, while I stood on the side of the road, I would find my hero. Behind our dark glasses, we locked eyes for the first time, shading our current emotions. Officer Pece, passing by the white car with black rims, proceeded to announce his first question, "Whose car is this?!" Shaky, nervous, and holding back a flow of tears, I said "Mine" meekly. That was our first conversation. Hey, you can't say he had no warning.

Though he had my number, Tyler decided not to draw too fast. He messaged me on Instagram which was our first communication. His first message to me was "Do you like Jason Aldean?" For the record, I call him Captain Smooth. My response of course was yes! Tyler had two tickets to a Jason Aldean concert which he planned on attending with a group of friends. He invited me along and of course I took that opportunity. We sang and danced to every song. Our friends and most of the people around us slowly dwindled away back to the parking lot. As the hill at Bethel Woods became less crowded, we had much more room to dance and sing. Our most memorable moment was during the song "You Make It Easy" by Jason Aldean. Tyler picked me up and held me in the air as we joyfully sang to it. We were abruptly interrupted with a tap on the shoulder by a power trip in a yellow vest. He scolded us. To his day, we still don't know why but from then on, that became our song, the one we got in trouble to.

Tyler decided it was time to pop the question 9 months after our ever so fun filled courtship which, I was told, was going to involve being pulled over. After discussing his ideas with my family, they re-directed the idea to something more magical. A quick backstory as to why I was in an apparent oblivious state before the big question; I had posted a video of myself barrel racing on Facebook from the angle of my Go-pro which was on my cowboy hat. The view from a riders perspective is not a common thing to see. I had quite the reaction and interest from those around me. Suddenly, so many family members were interested in coming to the next race. My thoughts were that everyone thought it was such a neat perspective, they wanted to see for themselves. Not quite, I thought wrong. My adrenaline was going, my nerves were high, and my focus was on my race. I warmed my horse up in a seemingly empty warm up arena which I was grateful to have since usually it is quite full. Not realizing the plan to have me race right before the big drag (break) was part of the outline, It went without notice to me that everyone on the grounds was in he arena with whispers of the pending event to take place. As I approached the holding pen, awaiting my turn, I turned my go-pro on, once again, since it was such a hit. I waited until my turn to push the record button. Tyler came out and wished me good luck like always. I sat in the pen, heart in my throat, focused on my run. I look around and a few people were smiling at me. I thought in my head, "Wow, everyone is so excited to see me run!" My name was called, it was my turn to go in, and I completely forgot to hit the record button on my go-pro which was fastened to my hat like a boulder. As I made my run, I found out where everyone was. The crowd cheered so loud for me. As I'm running, I'm thinking "Wow I must be killing it right now! I'm going so fast! Listen to the crowd!" My family was thinking "For the love of God please don't knock a barrel so she doesn't get mad and say no!" I finished my run, I had a pretty good time and it was clean, I was relieved and ready to get off my horse. The gate keepers at the the end told me I dropped something in the arena. I checked all my equipment and said "No, I have everything.". The gatekeeper said: "Just get back in there!" I swung off my horse, and walked back in. To my surprise, Tyler was standing in the arena with sunflowers on the barrel and a "Will You Marry Me" sign. The announcer played our song, the one we got in trouble to. I could not believe what was happening. It was literally the moment every barrel racer dreams of. I ran down the arena, horse in hand, tears in my eyes, and into Tyler's arms. My horse, Slam, however, wasn't quite sure what the fuss was all about and would have preferred to just get his treat. He was being good despite it all. Tyler said a few words to me before he popped the question. Neither of us remembered what he said. The only words I can recall were, "Which hand is your left hand?" and of course I said yes! It was a moment to remember with both of our family and friends around us. His words were almost captured on my go-pro, almost...had I remembered to hit record. My sister, Amanda, had made arrangements with a photographer beforehand. She had forewarned her of the event that was about to take place as well as set up a miniature photo shoot of Tyler and I, as well as our family and friends. She even packed a dress and nail polish to make sure I was prepared. Thank God for sisters!

We are more then grateful for all of those in our lives. We thought we would share more about who we are and where we are going with all of you. Tyler and I have quite the life and make a perfect pair. We balance each other well, we support each other, and most of all, we love each other unconditionally. Together we have two dogs, five horses, great family and plans for our future. Tyler will be carrying out his career as a police officer. He loves what he does, enjoys serving the community and making a positive impact on peoples lives. Once Tyler retires from the force, he plans to resume a career in real estate, law, or politics. Tyler's knowledge in anything and everything truly amazes me. I believe he was built for great things and can't wait to see where he goes with it. However, he mostly dreams of retiring and playing with horses all day. I will be persevering my dream on becoming an Architect in the near future. Though I do not limit myself to any type of architecture, my end goal is to design custom homes from my home office overlooking my field of horses. Architecture has been a passion of mine and a calling since I was 10 years old. There were a few builders in my family and perhaps that's where I get it from. Since I enjoy my career so much, I doubt a career change is in my future. A secondary passion of mine is Barrel Racing. I enjoy raising my own horses. My horses become my family for life and barrel racing is an added bonus. My dream is to provide my horses with the facility they deserve, be the best that I can be, and enjoy the barrel racing road with the greatest family and friends you can find. When you have a passion, it becomes a part of you. We hope to hold future events to bring everyone together again and share our dream with those that we love. We are so glad to have those near and dear to us celebrate our kick off in our journey together.