Alex and I met on a beautiful spring day in Charleston, South Carolina. Alex was celebrating a few days off after completing Naval Nuclear Power School and I was enjoying my last day of Spring Break. My best friend, Erin, and I were lounging by the pool, listening to music, and planning on taking a quick nap when a few cute guys walked into the pool area. Erin nudged me and said, "Hey Spence! Look at those "chili peppers" over there." "Chili pepper" was our code name for "hot guy." I glanced over and admired the view but never thought that they would walk over and talk to us. I laid back down to begin my nap when Alex and his two friends walked over. "Hey! Do you guys want to play bean bags?" Alex asked us. Erin and I were confused because we had NO IDEA what "bean bags" meant. "Do you mean CORN HOLE?" We asked. Alex nodded and we walked over to play. Alex was shy and didn't say much. That night he and his friend invited us over for pizza. Right when we walked in, we were offered two HUGE shots of vodka. Naturally, we obliged and as the night went on, Alex revealed his goofy, funny personality and I fell in love. Vodka + pizza + "bean bags" = a recipe for true love.

The day Alex proposed to me was one of the best days of my life. It was on the day of the Naval Submarine Ball in Washington. All day my best friend, Erin, and I were getting ready for the ball. We were so busy that I didn't even notice Alex's nervousness. We had all of our close friends over to our house in Bremerton before the ball to have a few drinks and take photos. We had taken a few pictures and were getting ready to leave when Alex asked me to take another photo with him. "My bow tie was crooked in the other pictures" he said. I walked over to take a few final photos with him and as the romantic song "Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky was playing, Alex got down on one knee to pop the question. I was SHOCKED! I had a suspicion earlier in the week that he MIGHT propose during Sub Ball weekend because my best friend Erin was flying out. Alex knew how much it meant to me to have Erin there when he proposed BUT he tricked me. Earlier in the week he had asked me if I wanted to go ring shopping sometime soon because he wanted to know what types of rings I liked. Little did I know that he already HAD the ring. I knew a proposal was coming soon but I had NO IDEA that it would be that weekend. I was so surprised and I couldn't have imagined a better way for him to have done it. We are SO excited to celebrate the next chapter of our lives with you. See you in Arizona!