At just the right time, when I was deciding to give online dating another try after ending a long and arduous relationship, Joey had made his way from Kentucky to Virginia and his profile popped up catching my eye. He had already come across my profile, so with a swipe, we matched and the magic began. He messaged me first and after a couple days of texting, he asked me out for his favorite... Mexican food! He drove an hour from Farmville to Lynchburg for dinner, and for the next few months we took turns driving to see each other for a date on the weekends, until we realized that seeing each once a week for a couple hours just wasn't enough.

Amidst the pandemic, we continued to grow closer together & more in love (awwww, I know, we're adorable), & celebrated one year together with a trip to the Biltmore mansion in Ashville, NC. Many of my friends asked if I was going to come back engaged, but since the trip was my idea, I assumed not & didn't want to get my hopes up. Alas, it did not happen then because, little did I know, my ring was ordered long before but was still on it's way (thanks, COVID). We enjoyed the trip the weekend before our anniversary as Joey was going to be out of town the weekend of our actual anniversary, and I was scheduled to work the weekend after that. On Sunday, June 28th, I came home from working at the hospital around noon & Joey suggested we go out for the rest of the day. We tried to enjoy wine tastings at some beautiful locations, but with a few COVID restrictions still in place, no tastings were happening (boo, COVID). We were disappointed & began the drive back home when Joey said "we should have gone on a hike instead." That was a bit suspicious, so I rushed us home to eat dinner & change clothes, then with only two hours until sundown, we sped off to a short trail 45 min away, & hiked to a waterfall where I was so hoping he would pop the question. After several minutes of walking around the area & taking adorable selfies together, he still hadn't proposed, so I sat on a rock disappointed. It was then that he tapped me on the shoulder, & when I turned around he was on one knee, holding out the ring. I jumped up screaming "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" & when he got out the words "Rachel Behrmann, will you marry me?", I threw out my hand with a "YES!" ...& then we took more selfies. There was no cell service there, so I had to wait til we hiked back to the car & drove a few miles to get to call any of my family & friends to share the good news, but I was on cloud 9 & nearly flew for the rest of the trail with my new fiancé trying to keep up behind me.

I knew for a while that I wanted to marry her but how could I pick out a ring with the stores closed (thanks, COVID)? I wanted to propose by our anniversary, so I had her send me a few she liked back in April. I ordered one, but weeks went by & it still hadn’t shipped (thanks again, COVID). It finally arrived when she was visiting so when she asked, “what’s in the box?” I said, “can’t tell you” knowing she would think it was her ring, then said it was car parts & hid it in the garage. I had to wait until Monday to open it. When I finally did, I discovered the diamond was missing! AHHH!! I was at the mercy of “Jared” to get my diamond in time. It finally shipped when we were leaving for our anniversary trip. The rock came as I was headed to FL for a family trip so I found a Jared’s there to set it in the ring. It was a nice trip, but I couldn’t wait to get back home & propose to my beautiful gf. I had no plan but didn’t want to wait much longer. That next weekend when she got off work we decided to go to a winery. I snuck the ring into my pocket figuring the winery would offer some nice scenery for a proposal but once there, it didn’t quite feel right. They weren’t offering wine tastings like we hoped & we left disappointed (thanks, COVID). I said we should have gone on a hike, since Rachel loves to hike. We got to the trailhead with only an hour left of daylight & threatening rain, so we flew through the trail. My heart was racing from the hike & excitement of asking the woman I love to marry me. I wanted it to be a surprise so instead of proposing immediately, I waited. This gave me time to calm my nerves enough to not drop the ring into the waterfall. After what seemed like long enough that she wouldn’t suspect it anymore, she turned around to sit facing the waterfall. I slipped the ring out of my pocket, tapped her on the shoulder, then watched her light up & squeal with excitement as I got down on one knee & asked “Rachel Behrmann, will you marry me?"