We're getting married!

After unofficially dating for a few months, we planned our first of many great adventures, SKY DIVING! We drove up to Santa Barbara, CA feeling a mixture of nervous jitters, excitement, adrenaline and of course the butterflies of new love. We boarded our perfectly good plane, and gave each other one last glance before leaping out. We shared a few priceless moments of pure joy during our free fall; waving and smiling at one another, all the while being directed for landing by our instructors. We land safely of course, embracing each other with tears in our eyes, blissfully happy to have had that moment together. After sky diving we treated ourselves to a much needed ice cream cone and made "us"official!

From early on in our relationship we talked about a trip of a lifetime to Yosemite. Little did she know, I had a little something stashed secretly in my bag. Wanting to ask the big question early in our trip, my stomach was in knots as we got closer. We stopped in and enjoyed some lunch and I had everything I needed including the ring but i was missing one thing, a plan. The nerves grew so rapidly that when she asked me if I was okay all I could think of was to blame the food we ate and said I just wasn't feeling well. Now she was worried she would get sick since we shared our meal, but I couldn't give away what was to come. Every place we passed was beautiful but completely crowded with people. We found this little trail along the water that came to a dead end due to overflow of the river so she started taking pictures. There was no one in sight with only a gorgeous view around us and I knew this was the spot. She turned around and was taking pictures of this perfectly placed fern leaf on a log when, after getting frustrated with her camera, turned around to me on a knee "holding something sparkly". I asked her to marry me and we laughed, cried, and celebrated in the utmost excitement. When walking back to the campgrounds I screamed "she said yes!" to hundreds of people at the top of my lungs and we were congratulated immensely. Toasting to the newest chapter of our lives sitting on a stump with little bottles of champagne she had this smile that I will never forget. We spent the rest of the weekend without telling anyone or posting on social media so we could enjoy our time together and live in the moment. I am so grateful to marry the woman of my dreams and create many more memories for years to come.

Having already brought home Brooke's childhood cat, "Dewey", who quickly made the apartment her own a year before, we came across "Finn"- our clearance puppy! Have you seen Marley & Me? Basically imagine Steven & Brooke in the place of Owen Wilson And Jennifer Aniston and you have a direct representation of what life with Finn is like! He is our energetic, fun- loving, mischievous Yellow Labrador, who can commonly be found stealing his Dad's socks - and we wouldn't want him any other way. The lessons he's taught us as a couple are unquestionable, especially in comparison to Dewey's laid back "I do what I want" personality! Adopting Finn made us a family in a heart beat, and for that we are so grateful he found us! If you ask Brooke, shes still trying to figure out how to have Finn in the wedding!