We were smitten from the first moment we saw each other. We met outside Cafe Fiore in Ventura for a blind date. His sister, Ruth, set us up together. We spent that entire meal looking at each other and smiling. He was only in Ventura for one more day before heading back to Idaho, so our time was short. We spent the next month texting and calling one another nonstop until he came back to visit again.

We went camping in upper Ojai during July (when it was ridiculously hot). This was Nehemiah's chosen birthday adventure. Of course, we reserved the camping site with no shade, so we spent the weekend down by the shaded creek. We hiked up the creek a couple miles until we found our own private swimming hole where we could relax for the day. He got me settled into the perfect spot in the creek to relax then he went back to the creek bank to get snacks and water. When I turned around he was kneeling down in front of me with a ring in his hand. He blurted out, "Will you marry me!?" Then he seemed to take a deep breath tell me all the things he loved about me and why he wanted to marry me. I, of course, said yes! Before leaving our special spot in the creek that day, he carved our initials in a tree nearby.