Stephen and I met in 2015 at CNU. We met on our freshman hall, and a few months later, sparks started to fly. Right before winter break, Stephen asked me to go on a walk with him. We walked through a neighborhood close to school that had been decorated for Christmas, and we ended up talking all night. On New Year's Eve, Stephen and I finally told each other that we liked each other. After break, we watched Harry Potter together as our first date, and the rest is history.

New Year's Eve has been a very important date in our relationship. New Year's Eve 2015, we confessed to each other that we liked one another. New Year's Eve 2016, Stephen came to Richmond, we got dressed up, went to a fancy dinner, and by 10:30 we were in our pjs. New Year's Eve 2017, Stephen was in Richmond again, but this time, he was helping take care of me after knee surgery. Finally, New Year's Eve 2018, I was in Norfolk. We went out for mimosas around 5, and when we got back, his sister rushed to the car with her phone camera open. Little did she know that Stephen hadn't asked me to marry him yet. He quickly shooed her off and suggested we go on a walk around his neighborhood. When we got to the waterside, he stopped in front of a house that was lit up with Christmas lights, and he got down on one knee and proposed. The beginning of our next chapter together started just as our relationship had ~ on a nighttime walk under the sparkling Christmas lights.