I remember seeing him before we ever spoke, hoping each time I saw him, he saw me too. I wanted him to talk to me, even though I had no idea how I’d respond. In my head, I was convinced I would ruin any chance before it even began. Will I be awkward? Shy? Silly? Or worse, would my nerves make me seem uninterested? All that overthinking.. and little did I know, he already had his eyes on me. We worked at the same job, but I was in the office and he was in the warehouse, so we rarely crossed paths. From my desk, I could see the front office door, and I started noticing when he walked in each morning. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pay attention to when he took lunch too. soon enough, our lunch times lined up perfectly. Toward the end of 2016, he finally broke the silence! As I headed back from lunch with a McDonalds bag in my hand he's standing outside the door slightly off to the left talking to a few people, I remember looking at him and he briefly looked at me and I thought to myself "IS THIS THE MOMENT" he said "when you gonna by me lunch" my response was quick but felt like I was rambling for words I respond with "when you invite me to your sesh" and continue to walk inside... like why did I just walk away from him? the moment I was waiting for and I just kept walking? Turns out i wasn't shy or silly, but the nerves did win. Later, he leaned over my cubicle and handed me a sticky note with his number. I was instantly on cloud nine. For anyone wondering yes I was invited to the sesh & no I did not buy him lunch! haha Like many stories, ours wasn’t a straight line, life pressed pause. But even in the quiet moments apart, our story was still being written, leading us back to each other when the timing was finally right. 2021, life brought us back together but this time was the right time. We started texting again, soon those messages led to face to face meetings. What began as casual conversations quickly grew into something deeper, and it was clear this connection was meant to last. We did all the little things couples do movies, long talks, late nights, sleepovers, cooking for each other, and traveling together. Our first trip to South Lake Tahoe showed us so much about each other. I knew I wanted to spend my life with him, but after that trip, we knew. Our relationship continued to flourish as we built our life and family together. 2024 all aboard the carnival cruise, Another remarkable chapter in our journey, though at the time, I had no idea what was coming. Travel always makes me anxious, but this time Julian seemed nervous too which was unusual for him. I assumed it was just the cruise. Little did I know, he was carrying the weight of a big secret. Clueless to what is about to happen, were checking out the room, ecstatic about the view to the water from the balcony and what we were gonna get into, it felt great to be there, we roamed the ship a while and waited for our things, Julian took me by the restaurant we were going to that night, the steakhouse! We explored the ship, had a few drinks, enjoying the ambiance and later headed back to get ready for dinner. He looked as fine as ever in black pants and a textured purple shirt as we headed to the steakhouse. We were seated in a cozy, romantic dimly lit corner it felt like it was just us in the room, While we were going over the menu having small talk, he stood up and what I believe to be him just asking the waitress to take a photo of us end up being one the biggest moments of my life. she began recording. Everything happened both fast and in slow motion as he reached into his pocket, dropped to one knee, with the ring lit up in his hand. I remember smiling in disbelief, shocked, happy, excited, this is actually happening so many emotions going through me and it all made sense this is why his nerves were crazy! August 26th 2024 We are officially ENGAGED!!!