Our first date James showed up to my apartment with a bouquet of roses and a smile on his face. With nervous hands, I took the flowers and we headed out. As a gentleman would, James opened my car door to let me in (and I haven’t touched that door since). We drove to Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, filling the car with pleasant small talk. He picked out a sweet little restaurant on the water called Tavern and Table, and we sat where we could see boats pass by and the sun set. Dinner was filled with more conversations and delicious food, ending in full stomachs and laughter. We walked on the pier that overlooked the marsh, and talked about our goals, futures, and dreams in life. After we were done, he drove me home, said goodnight, and the rest is history…

On Saturday, March 23rd, six weeks of long distance finally ended! James had spent time in Rhode Island for a training and we had been apart for almost 2 months. Saturday we had plans to spend all day together, to make up for lost time. He started the day off by showing up at my door with flowers and chick-fil-a breakfast. Later in the day we got dressed up and he took me to our favorite sushi place — Locals. We managed to eat crab Rangoons, Japenese mozzarella sticks, and 5 sushi rolls. After feeling slightly overstuffed, he took me to the Palmetto County Park where he had found a sweet little spot for us to sit and chat. There was a large observation tower tucked in the back of the park where we climbed 4 flights of stairs to this breathtaking view overlooking the marsh. The sun was setting, it was warm and beautiful, and I could not have been happier in that moment. I teased him (probably too many times) about how that night would be the perfect night to propose, but he told me he had shipped the ring to Arizona! So imagine my utter surprise and SHOCK when the love of my life got down on one knee, holding the most beautiful ring in the world, and asked me to marry him. I could not have been more surprised and could not be happier. Now, I count down the days to being his wife and to spending the rest of our lives together!