In 2020 during the height of covid, Riley and I matched on the dating app Hinge. We were both actually hesitant to match at first since our jobs were in the same field (him being a pilot and me being a flight attendant). Our first conversation ended up not even being anything aviation related, but about which Star Wars movies we thought were the best. After texting back and forth for about a week we decided to go out on what would be our first of many dates. We ate Mexican food and talked for hours and the rest is history.

In September of 2023 we were spending a week in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the annual Shipe family vacation. I was driving up and due to his work schedule Riley was flying in later in the week. Unbeknownst to me, I drove my ring all through the mountains that day and delivered it where it needed to be. All throughout the week I was texting my parents what we were doing everyday, and pictures of things, which is pretty normal for us considering we talk every day. On Friday, nothing was different and I was sending them pictures and updating them on what we had done, not knowing that they were all in the car together driving to me. (They were so careful leaving that they specifically went out a door that wasn't by a ring doorbell and loaded the bags up at a neighboring house so I wouldn't check the ring doorbell and see them packing up the car.). That night we were supposed to take what I thought were family pictures, maybe for a Christmas card or something. We were driving to the overlook and it started to pour rain most of the way there. Magically, when we got there the skies parted. Riley and I were going to take a few pictures first, before we asked someone to take a family photo and all of sudden he said "how about we do one more pose?" and then he reached in his pocket and pulled out the ring box. I don't exactly remember what was said, but I do know I cried for several minutes and before I said yes I asked "are you sure?" After that moment I looked up and saw my entire family standing there and of course started crying again. I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect or anything more special for a proposal. It was the perfect fairytale.