We acutally met through Facebook Dating. It was a new feature at the time and I figured why not give it try, as I had tried every other online dating site with little to no affect. I was only on for a week or so when I started chatting with Alex. Within a day we had a meet-up set at Old Town Coffee and Chocolates. He wore a faded Hawian shirt that made me a chuckle a bit, in spite of his fashion sense I figured I would give him a shot. By our third date having fancy drinks at Phatsy Kline's and our "chaparone" (a family friend's dog named Ella that Sarah would pet-sit), I asked her to be offical and exclusive.

Alex had asked me to marry him many times before I would say yes. At first it was just us having a sweet moment and him asking as a way to show how much he loved me and wanted me to be a part of the rest of his life. I would deflect and say, "Not yet." Then complain about having a romantic proposal planned or the lack of jewlery involved. So when he did get the ring, there was still no romatic proposal it was simply the fact that he could not wait to give me the gift. Ironically, this meant he proposed on Cinco de Mayo, at least it will be easy to remember, lol. When I saw the ring, a simple set moonstone, my favorite gemstone, with a little embelishment on the silver band. It was what I had asked for, with a touch more detial he preferred that will always remind me of him. Unfortunately, this ring was a bit too big for my ring finger, but fit nicely on my middle finger for the time being. Alex's grandmother, Marlene, an authority on jewlery, heard our perdiciment and offered a rainbow moonstone ring she had had for years and it was a perfect fit! I've never been one to wear much jewlery or even on a regular basis, but now you will see both rings on my hands everyday as they mean so much more to me than their cash value. It reminds me of us, our love, and a blessing from his family.

We deciced two weeks before the year-to-go mark for our planned wedding, that it just made sense not to wait to be offical in the eyes of the law and that we should elope. With just our local family members and my Matron of Honor, since she was already ordained, we gathered on 7.21.2023 at Houda Point and had a casual ceremony. The weather was perfect, no one else was there. My mother walked me down the steps to stand with Alex, overlooking the ocean and Trinidad Head. My niece, Avery, held our rings. Alex's daughter and my now step-daughter, Jessica, and my other niece, Emersyn, signed as our witnesses. It was beautiful, short and sweet, and we were surrounded by our familys. We couldn't have asked for more.