Gage and I met at our local CrossFit gym in Morgantown, West Virginia after unknowingly interacting several different times in passing. I had just finished a very hard workout and my hands were torn to pieces. He walked up to me and struck up a light conversation about my history with CrossFit and school. After talking for a while, he held out his hand and said, “My name is Gage by the way.” I awkwardly tried to shake it while nursing my injured hands. After that conversation I was very shocked at how friendly and polite he was and didn’t stop thinking about that hand shake for days. One night, my friend Taylor convinced me to send him a message via Instagram and ask for his number. I was too nervous to do it myself and refused. After typing and retyping my message draft to Gage I held up my phone to Taylor and asked her if it sounded okay. She reached over and pressed “Send” for me. I thought for sure he wouldn’t respond, but he did almost immediately, and honestly we haven’t stopped talking since.

Gage has never been much of a planner. Everything he does is mostly off the cuff and he wings it half the time. But his proposal to me was nothing shy of perfect. We decided to take a weekend trip to Canaan Valley, with just our siblings. Saturday morning we all piled in my sister's car to grab coffee and explore Davis. On the way home Sierra insisted we take a walk on the mountain. I initially refused and was super grumpy because I was hungry and tired, but she went anyway. We walked up the mountain, a place I have been visiting my entire life, and looked down at the valley. It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky and cool. Sierra started taking Gage and I's picture overlooking the valley when both of our parents came out from the trees. Gage had secretly invited them to watch him propose. I was beyond shocked and when I looked back, Gage was on one knee and asked me to marry him. I couldn't have asked for a more special moment. In front of all of our favorite people, surrounded by love in the most beautiful place on Earth.