We are married!!

A wonderful mutual friend, Casey Garrett, introduced us. But it wasn't to date. The three of us hung out one weekend at Oleary's Tiki Bar. After that day, Jason and I would run into each other occasionally and after, he would find ways to casually reach out. A few months later, at my kickball championship game, I stepped wrong during a play and tore my ACL in my knee. Jason found out and texted me the next day that he could help check out my knee. Over the next couple of weeks leading up to surgery, he helped me rehab my knee. One day I got a text from Jason asking if we could grab dinner after rehab. On October 6th, we had our first date at Yume Sushi. I loved the friendship we had developed and soon, we fell in love. Everyday I am thankful that Casey brought him into my life. For a long time I prayed for someone like Jason and he has well exceeded everything I could have dreamed up. <3

One of my favorite things about Jason is his thoughtfulness and surprises. Jason called asking me to check the mail. Inside I found an envelope with my name on it. Inside was 2 pieces of paper. One was one of his corny/adorable poems. It told me about an adventure we would be going on and the 2nd was the packing list. That night we packed our bags & got to bed early. We were on the road the next morning by 5:30 am and soon arrived to the Key West Express parking lot! I was completely surprised! In the parking lot he told me that he even had secretly asked my boss for Monday off from work so we would be staying the night! We arrived to Key West and spent the day exploring the island. That evening we walked to the restaurant he had made a reservation at. We stopped at the end of a dock and he told me we had arrived. A boat pulled up and a small group of us boarded. It took us to the restaurant out on a small island. It was beautiful! The restaurant, Latitudes, sat on a private beach. The hostess led us through the restaurant and outside to the tables in the sand and brought us to the table closest to the water and what felt like away from everyone else. It was perfect and the sunset was one for the books. The server came by to take our drink order and Jason asked her if she would take our picture. Right away she suggested going down onto the beach for a perfect private photo. So we made our way down, posed for a photo, and as I turned to walk back to our table, I heard him get my attention and I turned around to him on one knee. He asked me to marry him and I said yes! He put the most beautiful ring on my finger and soon told me it was my late grandmother's diamond. He showed me the custom details he designed to give me a piece of him as well. It's the most special gift I've ever been given. Key West has forever been a special part of me since I was born there, but now Jason has made it even more special by letting it also be a piece of our journey.