Welcome to our happily ever after

Shortly after I had moved to Colorado, I found myself in desperate need of a job. A friend of a friend had suggested going to his mother’s gym to see if she needed any help. On Monday, his mother took me on a tour of a beautiful facility and at the end of the tour was graciously offering me a job. As I listened to what the job entailed, I noticed this large man, in a sherbet orange tank top, leaning on the front desk. I couldn’t see his face but there was something about him that I just couldn’t look away from. The woman’s voice became incoherent babble in my head, my heart pounded a little harder and I knew I was staring at my person. On my way home from this fateful day, I called my cousin and I said to her “I don’t know who this guy is. But, I can promise you this, I will be married to him in five years.” On Tuesday, I was called in for an interview and accepted the job, agreeing to start the next day. On Wednesday, I finally got to meet the man in the sherbet orange tank top. I instantly felt connected to him. Feeling bold, I asked him if I could work out with him later that day. He kicked my butt! Hardest workout I’ve ever done and 100% worth it. We talked and he helped me with some nerve issues I was having in my arm. He was so sweet and such a gentleman. I couldn't wait to go back to work the next day. On Thursday, we were sitting in the office together and he simply asked me what I had going on the rest of the day. Casual conversation. Without even thinking about it my response was “Well, that depends on you.” He looked at me quizzically and asked: “How so?” And my response was “It depends on whether or not you’re taking me to sushi.” We went on our first date that night and we have been inseparable ever since. I had met the man of my dreams, the one who made my soul happy, and I was never going to let go of him.

The first time I thought to myself “I’m gonna marry this woman” is a difficult time to actual put into words. I’ve known I was going to marry Sarah from the first time we met, from the first workout we did together, the first sushi date we had (I don’t consider our first workout a date, she does so I need to be specific here!), and the first time she met my friends. It was love at first sight, love at introduction, and a forever love that I will cherish forever. Now, the first time I knew I was going to marry her? The moment that inspired the planning of the proposal? That’s a different story altogether…

That story started the first time I expressed an interest in getting into law enforcement. An odd time for a romantic story to start, but bear with me through this one. I had been unhappy with my job for a while and seemed to be stuck in a rut, and CONSTANTLY complained about drivers in Colorado (which anyone that lives here will understand) and what I would do with those drivers if I could. Finally, after hearing me complain and bearing with it for Only-God-knows-how-long, Sarah finally talked me into doing a ride along with one of our friends and I was immediately hooked and knew it was what I wanted to do. Sarah was with me the whole process, making sure I finished paperwork, helping me create resumes and making sure I made it to appointments. Without her I doubt I would have ever made it through everything, and I know I wouldn’t have even applied without her influence. The moment I had the true “I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman”, happened when I got the phone call saying I had made it in to the Jefferson County Regional Police Academy. I was BEYOND excited and knew my life was going to go in a whole new direction, and the first person I shared it with was my fiancé Sarah. Yes, that’s not a typo, that was the first time my brain told me Sarah was going to be my fiancé. I had thought to myself many many times that I was going to marry Sarah, but it was the first time my brain automatically knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. I didn’t tell her, I didn’t tell anyone for that matter, but it started the wheels turning and my plot for the perfect proposal began

See I know Sarah LOVES surprises, but HATES not knowing what the surprise is, so I had to make sure she had absolutely no idea when or how it was going to happen, which meant I couldn’t tell anyone about it. Thankfully, Sarah had been showing me wedding rings (she’s a subtle person like that) for some time, so I knew the style she wanted heck I even had two or three rings that she stated she would want. So I reached out to one of her bosses, yes her boss because I knew she could keep a secret and her friends or coworkers…not so much, and had her take me to one of her companies stores. Since I know, and still continue to know, absolutely nothing about what a good diamond looks like I figured her boss could help me out. In the end, I said screw it and didn’t pick a single ring she suggested. Instead I picked the perfect one. The one I wanted her to wear on our wedding day.

Now here’s the tricky part because, as those that have seen our apartment know, the apartment is not a big place and there is virtually no where I could hide the ring where she wouldn’t find it either through her “spring” cleanings that occurred periodically (and left me wondering where everything was and why everything was reorganized) or through her reorganizing the apartment because she was bored of how it looked. So I thought of the perfect plan, to put it in the one place I knew she wouldn’t look because it was so obvious and she would need my help to move something to find it anyways. For nearly 6 weeks before I proposed, the ring was hiding between the mattress and the wall. Not only between the mattress and the wall, but also on her side of the mattress. For almost 6 weeks she slept with her wedding ring only 6 inches away from her head and she never had a clue. Needless to say, those 6 weeks were ever so slightly stressful as I was hoping every day that she would not defy my expectations and move the mattress…the thing was heavy and there was nowhere else to put it so I thought it was perfect! And I knew the perfect time to propose too…in front of my entire family and the new city I would be working for at my graduation from the Jefferson County Regional Police Academy.

Now to this point, it was the week before June of 2018, and still the only person that knew I was proposing to Sarah was her boss. And even she did not know when or where I was planning on doing it! It was going perfectly except for one small snag…I knew Sarah would loooooooove a video of the proposal, which meant it wasn’t enough to just have the normal photographers around and family taking photos, someone had to know what was going on and have video going instead. I reached out to my father and told him what was going on, he gave me the biggest hug I have ever got from him, and he told me he wouldn’t let anyone know and he would happily record this occasion. I had everything lined up, and only a few more days to wait before the big day.

Finally! The big day arrived and I knew it was going to be perfect. I was wearing my brand new dress uniform (looking snazzy) and Sarah had a brand new red dress she conveniently bought for the occasion (lucky me), she had no idea when I snuck the ring out from behind the mattress and into my pocket. GOOD LORD was I worried I would drop or lose the ring. I was more nervous for that than any part of the day, but thankfully it was worrying that did not need to happen! Everything went smoothly and frankly I don’t remember essentially ANYTHING from the graduation ceremony itself, which makes perfect sense, but makes my memory of afterwards even better! After the ceremony I had the perfect plan and jumped right into action. My whole family was in attendance and we were allowed to use the stage for family photo ops as soon as the ceremony was over so I took full advantage of that. I almost skipped (debating internally whether or not I ACTUALLY skipped but I think everyone would have commented on that if I had…) over to my family and Sarah and told them we should go to the stage and get some photos done before we went out to dinner! Now…if anyone knows me…this was probably a HUGE clue to everyone that something was up because normally the only way I’m taking a photo is if it is ridiculous or completely takes me by surprise. Not a fan of photos and this is probably the only time in my 29 years on this earth I have asked for photos. Sarah later said she knew something was up, but thankfully it was enough of a surprise at the time she did not catch on right away.

Anyways! The whole family and I went up to the stage and we took several photos of the whole family together, then just me and my parents, and the obligatory photo with my brother that inevitably ended with both of us grabbing each other’s butts in the photo (we have a great comfortability with each other…and a great need to make things funny for us and uncomfortable for others around us) before the final photos came up. The ones with just me and Sarah and my final plan came into action. Sarah and I went up on stage and we took our usual cute couple of photos, and I could see my dad out in the crowd take out his cell phone, turn it sideways (thank goodness he didn’t take video like an amateur!), and I knew it was show time. I turned to Sarah, told her there was one more photo we needed to take but I needed to grab something for it, she gave me a puzzled look for a second while I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring. In the span of the next third of a second I saw the biggest flurry of emotion on her face, from a mild confusion as she tried to understand what I was talking about, to complete surprise as her eyes widened when she realized what the ring was, to complete happiness as tears welled up in her eyes and she looked at me and the giant grin on my face. It was absolutely perfect. I got down on one knee and heard the audience around us gasp and my mom start yelling at my dad to film it, not realizing he already was. I don’t remember my exact words, I had them planned and ready for the moment, but as soon as that knee hit the ground everything left my brain and I was so completely in the moment I don’t know what I said. Thankfully she already knew what was coming and I’m sure started saying yes before I even finished the question. It was the best moment of my life and one that words do not bring justice to.

So that’s the story of how I proposed to Sarah and I must say it is one of the greatest stories of my life. But now that the wedding is approaching, I know it’s only the beginning. Our entire journey together has been amazing, one filled with so many smiles and laughs. Hugs and kisses galore. And you know what? It’s only going to get better.