Alisa and Jim's first meeting was hardly a meeting at all. They were first introduced when Alisa accompanied her friends Maya and Jordan to a birthday party for Will Smith that Jim was hosting. The embers begged for heat, but there was not a spark to start a fire that night. Several years passed on. Alisa was about to start a new job teaching high school ceramics and Jim was just beginning his fourth year audiology externship at Arizona State University. As chance would have it, the two ran into one another once again at a Fourth of July pool party. Something was a little different this time. If you ask Jim, it was the hamburger shaped Croc sandals he was wearing that piqued her interest. Whatever it was, the two were able to engage in some light hearted chit chat and general banter. Yet still, the flames of love laid dormant like wet pieces of wood in the fire pit. A few months had passed yet again, but as chance would have it, the universe would again nudge these two towards one another when the two of them should happen across each other on Bumble. Jim obviously swiped right without hesitation. Alisa, looking to have a laugh with a familiar face, as well as an innate interest to get to know the inexplicably handsome man staring back at her from her phone decided to swipe right as well. From there, the story really began...

Fast forward a couple of years. Alisa and Jim had fallen in love. Alisa's parents decided to come and visit Arizona for Thanksgiving in 2018. Wanting to show her parents a good time, Alisa devised a roadtrip to some of the most beautiful sights in the Southwest, including a tour of one of the photography gems of the world, Antelope Canyon. Jim, seeing an opportunity to propose in a special place with family, began to concoct a plan. In the week leading to the departure, he was able to get the perfect ring (according to not so subtle hints and suggestions provided by Alisa) and gather Vlad's blessing. After barely being able to fall asleep the night before, the day of the tour, Jim woke up early and snuck out of the Air BnB to get a bottle of champagne and flutes. He turned the spare tire storage of his car into a hidden cooler with ice. He hoped intensely that the champagne would be celebratory by the time it was opened. Once they arrived at the tour location, Jim pulled their guide aside to ask for help in picking the perfect private spot for a proposal photograph, and the tour guide indicated that he would give a nod when they got to the spot. Jim relayed the message to Vlad and Yana so they would be ready as well. Alisa was relayed nothing. After making their way through the gorgeous canyon and snapping hundreds of photos, they arrived at a small spot towards the end. After getting the nod from the guide that they arrived at the right spot, Jim nodded to Vlad and Yana that all systems were go. Jim and Alisa were directed to a spot for a routine photograph, and after bumbling and stumbling over his words, he got down on one knee and proposed. To his delight, she said yes. Following the excitement of the tour they were able to share the bottle of champagne overlooking beautiful Lake Powell. It was truly the perfect end to a perfect morning.