It started on a Thursday evening in November in 2019. Aaron was dressed to kill, and by that we mean he had a goatee for a no-shave November work group. Ashley was at her best, and by that we mean 15 minutes late, she likely had on the green shirt (iykyk). It started over a perfect batch of pina coladas and yuca fries at Shaker Mill. It went off swimmingly so we decided to go for round 2. Aaron invited Ashley to play Bingo at the Draughtsmen. This was the start of their winning streak and competitiveness as a couple. We won EVERY SINGLE GAME of Bingo which means we got PAID. Aaron hugged Ashley goodbye and then as she was walking away he ran back and asked for another hug. We both hurt from smiling so much that night. Date 3, Ramen, James Joyce and Darts (because, you know, games and competition are our foundation) and a first kiss. This night flew by and felt like two long time best friends. Flash forward to March 2020 when we were glamping in Limekiln, Big Sur in a Metris Camper Van (thanks Pops!) and working really well together as a camping couple. Aaron tried to prove he was an Eagle Scout by trying to light a campfire on a misty evening with wet wood, no axe, no tinder, and no lighter fluid... let's just say we played Villainous (a Disney board game) inside that night. This was truly the first time that we both felt something could be more but we were both concerned about our super busy schedules. Aaron was at the peak of his ultimate career and Ashley was in the thick of her Master's program at UCSB. Then the weekend ended and we drove back to Morro Bay for some lunchtime oysters - but instead we came back to an isolated world. It was bewildering to get back into service to receive hundreds of text messages, shops closed down in the middle of the day, empty parking lots.... that being said - all of a sudden we had a LOT MORE TIME! We had multiple lunches where Aaron parked the camper van and ate in front of Ashleys house while she did the same from her driveway. That June we decided to do an epic camper van road trip to Joshua Tree, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. Not only did we survive this 9 day extravaganza in extremely close quarters, we thrived. From there the rest is history.

Aaron proposed at a place so close to our hearts and our relationship - Big Sur.

We had a Saturday-Monday campsite booked at Treebones Resort. Aaron wanted to propose on the way there, so that we could have the whole weekend to be freshly engaged. In the week leading up to our trip, he asked if Ashley wanted to get mani-pedis done together. Sussing out that something was up, Ashley opted to go with Jess - which allowed Aaron to get all the surprise charcuterie supplies prepared and packed away.

Saturday morning, Aaron packed up the whole car to make sure Ashley's curious eyes didn't see anything they weren't supposed to. He dressed up and tried very hard to get Ashley to change into a nice dress - pretending to be a "Hollywood Chic" couple. Ashley made some very solid points against this, mainly being: Why the heck would I dress up for a 3 hour car ride before we go camping?!.. Alas, she put on one of her comfortable, yet beautiful dresses as a compromise - Aaron was relentless. Finally on the road, we made it all the way to Goleta before Aaron gasped, turned to Ashley and said "Honey, I've forgotten something. We need to go back." Bless her heart she played along, pretending to use the restroom again while Aaron frantically got the ring out of it's hiding place. That's right - he forgot the ring. Oopsies.

He choose a vista point with no one around that had stunning views from a little shaded nook on the cliffside. It took him a minute to scope out the spot, as neither of us had been there before. During this time, Ashley recorded a secret video on his phone with the quote "I think you're about to propose. You're looking for a place for a perfect picnic... but where'd you go?!"

Aaron surprised Ashley with a full, fancy charcuterie picnic, accompanied by our new proposal plant (named Penelope). He popped the question on both knees while tearing up (notably Ashley was lacking in the waterworks department). We popped a mini-bottle of champagne and just hung out taking selfies for a couple hours until it was check in time at Treebones Resort.

Our weekend there was EPIC! Strongly recommend for anybody looking to get away (no kids or parties allowed). We were welcomed with celebratory glasses of wine and a helper that drove all our gear to our campsite. We ate dinner at the in-house omakase restaurant, where we drastically changed the vibe from a quiet fancy meal to a raucous celebration of our engagement! 10/10 would recommend the Wild Coast Sushi Bar. Since we were staying until Monday, the entire resort checked out, leaving us the whole place to ourselves on Sunday! We hung out at the pool and ate our leftover Charcuterie for hours, enjoying being completely alone, without phone service, and happily engaged. Ashley kicked Aaron's but at Settlers of Catan multiple times, we made our standard camping meal of green chicken curry and explored the local swimming hole.

We finished off our weekend by going and getting Oysters in Morro Bay, as we had intended on our first trip to Big Sur. This is where we turned our phones back on and enjoyed sharing with the world the news.

Thanks for reading that whole bit. We love you!