Emily's and my story begins as so many do these days — on a dating app. I sent Emily a rose on Hinge, and the rest was history. For our first date, we met at Coronado Brewing Company for dinner. Things were going so well that we decided to continue the night next door at the Little Club to play some pool. That’s when I quickly learned that Emily could definitely hold her own at the pool table! At the end of the evening, I walked her to her car, and we both had the same feeling — there was a real future between us. The following months were filled with exciting new dates, meeting each other’s friends and family, and discovering everything we could about one another. Early on, Emily also learned something important about me: I serve in the military. That means I travel often and deploy for six-month periods. The first seven months of our relationship flew by, and then it was time for me to deploy. I was worried — our relationship was still so new — but Emily was steadfast and reassuring, reminding me that everything was going to be okay. Though it was hard to leave, I set off on a six-month deployment in Asia. During that time, Emily and I found comfort in a routine of FaceTime calls and watching movies “together” whenever I was available. Despite the distance, our love only grew stronger. When I returned from deployment, everything about our relationship felt easy. Emily and I traveled to Spain together, and she withstood the test of international travel with grace. The summer of 2024 was an incredibly fun time in our lives—we traveled, went to concerts, and enjoyed all the best parts of dating. Still, in the back of both our minds lingered the question: When are we going to take our relationship to the next level? We talked often about the future and what it would look like together. In December of 2024, we planned a fun date to go look at rings—just for fun. Knowing my sister was getting married in May, I decided I would wait until after her wedding to propose. A couple of weeks after our ring shopping date, I secretly bought the ring but told no one. The week after my sister’s wedding, I showed my parents the ring to their delightful surprise. The following week, I visited Tony and Terese and received their blessing. I knew Emily would love a proposal on the beach and that we would have to celebrate afterward with our friends. This really left me with only one option: propose on the beach in Coronado, then return to where it all began—Little Club—to celebrate. The proposal itself was a blur, but we couldn’t have asked for anything more special. Now, as I’m deployed once again, I look forward to returning home, enjoying this season of being engaged to the love of my life, and marrying her next September.