Ariel likes to take credit for her mother's marriage to her step father, Tom, as she basically set them up. Which means Ariel also thinks she gets to take credit for her marriage to Danny, as he is Tom's nephew and we never would have met if our relatives hadn't married each other first. Yep, as we said, it's kind of a funny story!

We knew each other peripherally for several years until we were thrown together on a week-long trip where we learned we rather liked spending time together. And then we just never stopped spending time together!

Almost exactly two years of dating later, Danny proposed to Ariel in Joshua Tree National Park with a ring that belonged to his great grandmother, fitted with the diamond from Ariel's grandma's earring. Knowing she loves whales more than almost anything, he ensured he proposed on the same day she saw her first whale. He booked multiple whale watching voyages for the trip and had a couple more in his back pocket just in case. And he did it! We got engaged mere hours after our whale sighting.

Ariel later proposed to Danny as well, wanting him to get his own surprise. She popped the question at the Black Angel gravestone in Iowa City, a significant stop on one of our first dates, with a bracelet she made, fitted with the matching diamond.

In case it wasn't obvious by now, we both said yes.

Photos