Caleb & Verenize went on their first date on April 12, 2017. The date was comfortable and they both had a wonderful time walking through different areas of Visalia. Their first stop was at an art gallery where they browsed the different displays and sat on a bench that was in front of a video playing a loop of driving by orange groves on the outskirts of Orange Cove. After that, they went to another art place and then had lunch at Flame & Skewers (which closed down). They walked off their lunch by heading to the park and rested at the edge of the running river. It was starting to get late so they began to walk back to their cars until Verenize mentioned that her feet hurt. Caleb tried to give her a piggyback ride, but Verenize was protesting so he tried to put her back down. They didn’t realize that the floor was still a ways down and they ended up falling to the ground. Caleb felt so bad, but Verenize thought it was hilarious.

Caleb & Verenize saw each other a few more times, but Verenize went radio silent in Mid-May 2017. She really liked Caleb, but she felt that she was stuck in an abusive situation and wanted to work on getting out of it and improving her mental health. Caleb was unsure of why Verenize no longer contacted him, but he continued to let her know that he was there if she ever needed him. His encouraging messages made her feel bad about stopping contact with him, but gave her the strength to work harder to get better. The guilt of cutting off contact was eating at Verenize, so she decided to apologize to Caleb for what she had done. Caleb was completely surprised and sent her a picture of a surprised/startled cat. He replied with, “She responded, what do I say?!” Verenize kept apologizing and explained that she had been going through some things. She didn’t want to drag Caleb down with her. They continued to stay in contact, although her replies were still sporadic.

A few days before May 18, Verenize mentioned to Caleb that she was participating in the graduation ceremony at Reedley College. He was excited and happy for her and asked if he could go. She was surprised that he wanted to attend, but she said yes. At the ceremony, Caleb took pictures of Verenize and cheered her on. She felt touched and honored. After the ceremony, Verenize found her family and tried to look for Caleb. Her father was tired and ready to go home so she didn’t get the chance to see him. She felt bad and disappointed. She apologized to Caleb through text and promised to make it up to him at a later time. About two weeks later, Verenize asked Caleb to hang out. They met up in Visalia, looked at the Sequoia tree in the downtown area and decided to visit the Sequoias. They had a great time and remembered why they had liked each other. They made plans to spend time together again and saw each other as often as possible. On June 14, 2018, Caleb asked Verenize to be his girlfriend. She excitedly agreed!

Caleb created a map for Verenize to go on a scavenger hunt. Little did he know that she would solve the clues in a day! The map had four locations that he could possibly propose and Verenize had to choose one. Yosemite, Redwoods, Morro Bay, and Monterey Bay. A few days later, they traveled to Yosemite National Park with Luna the husky. Caleb’s original plan was to go to Bridal Falls to propose, but unfortunately it was closed. The backup plan for proposing was hiking The Mist Trail, but the plan was foiled again. No dogs were allowed on that trail. They decided to hike the Mirror Lake Loop. It was starting to get late and Verenize started to believe that the proposal would not happen there. As the afternoon sun set into the evening sky, one last stop was made at Tunnel View Point. Snow started falling and Caleb realized that a part of his plan was working out. He got Verenize to get out of the car so that she could prove it was snow. As the snowflakes landed in his hair, she thought that he was the most adorable person in the world. They walked over to the area that overlooks the Yosemite Valley, where Caleb had Verenize read a sign that was supposed to have a hidden message on it. There was no hidden message, only a distraction. There a bamboozling occured as Caleb got down on one knee. Verenize took one look at Caleb and felt the tears well up in her eyes as he explained that he didn’t want to be without her. They hugged until Caleb asked, “So… Is that a yes?” He didn’t realize that he hadn’t actually asked the question since he was so nervous. She said yes and they headed home. After driving for a while, Caleb realized that he had not asked the question. He proceeded to ask Verenize if she would marry him, and she said yes again.