We Are Getting Married!

The story of Barbra and Mason began the fall semester of their freshman year at NAU. Barbra was heading to a dorm party at Reilly Hall with her roommate and some mutual friends from high school. As the elevator reached the 6th floor and the doors opened, Mason was in the common area talking with some other people. Barbra and her friends continued to make their way to the room. However, Mason and Barbra made eye contact with one another. Barbra smiled at Mason and ran to catch up with her friends. As it turned out the dorm party Barbra was attending was actually in Mason & Eric’s (groomsmen) room. While sitting at one of the desk chairs Barbra felt someone shake the chair and say jokingly “who’s in my chair?”. Unknowingly Barbra apologized and offered to move and Mason stated he was only joking. After a couple hours people were stating they were hungry. Mason had offered to drive Barbra and her friends to go get pizza if they wanted to. They all made their way to the car and returned back to campus an hour later. As the night concluded Barbra and Mason went their separate ways until their paths would cross again.

Before needing a ride home Barbra and Mason bumped into each other at an exam study session in early October for their accounting class. Where again Mason walked in and kicked the chair Barbra was sitting in. He questioned what she was doing there and came to find out that she was also a business major. In early November, Barbra was in need of a ride home and reached out to a high school friend that would go home almost every weekend. Barbra confirmed that she had a ride home, but didn't get any other details. Barbra was making her way back from class when she happened to pass Mason. She didn't exactly remember him, but knew that he was a familiar face. As they passed one another Mason said "I'll see you at 7". Again, Barbra unaware of what was happening quickly bypassed his remark and made her way to her dorm. As the time approached for Barbra to get a ride home she received a text from her high school friend stating to meet at the car in the parking lot of Reilly Hall at 7:00pm. As she approached the car she had realized that it was Mason driving her home. Once everyone was settled we began our journey down the hill. The whole drive down the hill Barbra was rather quiet and rather nervous to talk to Mason. Once in the town of Cave Creek, Mason began dropping his buddies off and Barbra was the last one to be dropped off. While dropping Barbra off Mason had extended the offer to drive her back to school on Sunday. Barbra graciously accepted the offer and both of them exchanged numbers. Sunday arrived rather quickly and Barbra was in need of a ride back up to Flagstaff. The ride started out rather awkward for Barbra similar to how it was on the ride down. However, this time it felt different because Mason was really trying to make her feel apart of the conversations. Before they knew it conversation sparked and they couldn't stop talking about life and their goals. As it turned out Mason went to a charter school while Barbra was at the public school. They paths had crossed many times before they were at college and met one another. Mason had worked at the Starbucks in the Safeway where Barbra would always get coffee before her Student Council activities. They had mutual friends in common and grew up in the Cave Creek area. When they arrived back in Flagstaff, Mason invited Barbra to his brother's apartment to continue hanging out. As the next few days went by Barbra and Mason continued to talk which led to Mason asking Barbra to be his girlfriend.

Every year that went by Barbra & Mason's love grew. They faced many challenges and hardships which taught them both very important lessons. Over the years, Barbra and Mason made the best of all opportunities that presented themselves. Barbra and Mason began to explore the world together and enjoyed time with each other's families. As time went by it began to feel like they each had a spot in one another life. They were both beginning to start to understand their habits and personalities. Love grew and it seemed that nothing could grow between them. Barbra ended up living in Philadelphia and Dallas while Mason was in Cave Creek preparing to get on with the fire department. There have been many trials and tribulations that have brought them closer together. We are all excited to see where the journey of life will take them.

After 7 years together through all their ups and downs. Mason decided it was time to propose to Barbra. He had finally found where he wanted to be for his career and was sure he could take care of her for the rest of her life. After timid planning and being secretive, which he is horrible at. He asked Barbra’s parents permission for her hand in marriage and began the process of planning his proposal. He continued to secretly plan a trip to Ketchum, Idaho. Mason found a photographer that would hide to capture the moment while on the trip. Barbra was suspecting that Mason would finally be proposing to her yet, she did not know which day it would be luckily for Mason. Mason proposed on the first day of the trip to not be too nervous. Barbra and Mason made their way to town and set off shopping through the Ketchum downtown district. As shopping dwindled down, Mason led Barbra down a set of stairs at Lucy Logan Park. The stairs led to a beautiful creek running through the town with gorgeous fall colors on the trees that surrounded us. Mason dropped to one knee and as Barbra turned around he asked her to marry him. Barbra went quiet and it seemed that her brain went blank and tears filled her eyes. A yes rang through Mason's' ears and they were both so excited to begin their future together. Following the proposal Mason and Barbra took photos and made their way to Redfish Lake to continue exploring the beautiful town that Mason selected.