11 years is all it took. 11 years of growing up and trying to find ourselves. The beautiful part of this friendship turned relationship is that we always had our friends and family that brought our love together. On August 31, 2019, I planned a "Birthday/Labor Day" get-together with our family in San Diego. Melody and I have shared some amazing birthday celebrations together; but I wanted to make my birthday celebration one that SHE would never forget. If you know Melody, you know she is not the one to love surprises and always finds a way to know whatever I have planned. But fortunately for me, this was one surprise that she did not see coming. With a BBQ and dinner planned for my birthday, we rushed to have another epic family celebration at Mom's pool/clubhouse. Except this time there was no one tending the grill or even at the pool as Melody and I walked up. To her surprise and my nervousness leading up to this moment, we walked into a dim lighted clubhouse, with a row of candles leading to the center of the room. Our family was sitting there with the biggest smiles and held back cheers of joy, I was able to have the courage to get Melody to the center of the room and ask her to marry me. Luckily for me she was able to handle this huge surprise and give me the greatest "Yes" I will ever receive. I wish I could tell you more about the moments leading up to it but during these moments you tend to blackout and forget everything you rehearsed in your head. I could not have asked for a better moment in our lives <3