Dylan's point of view:

Addie and I had been talking about marriage for a while, but we knew that we had some time to wait. Both of us were in college with no way of making a steady income for the two of us to make it on our own. We knew that our long term plan was to get married some time in 2025 after Addie graduated from college, but we didn't know all the details yet.

In 2023 I went on family vacation with Addie and her family to Arkansas. Chad and I went to play golf one day and I realized it was a great opportunity to ask for his blessing to marry Addie. He gave me his blessing, and as our conversation went on, he was just thinking out loud and said he thought it would be good for us to be engaged for no longer than a year. I wanted to respect that and make it happen, even though my family was going to Costa Rica for Christmas 2023 and we were taking Addie with us. Of course, my original plan was to propose there, but that would mean Addie and I would be engaged for a year and a half, so I had to come up with a new plan.

I talked to Addie about waiting a little longer before we got engaged and she didn't take it too well. She had been hinting that I should propose in Costa Rica for at least a year, so it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2023, Chad asked me if I had anything special planed for Costa Rica over Christmas break, and I let him know that I was going to wait to pop the question in the summer time, that way our engagement would be only a year long. A week or so later, I get a text from Chad letting me know that he was sad when he heard I wasn't proposing in Costa Rica. I told him I would pray about it and see what God's plan for this engagement was. Three days later, I sent Chad and Amber the ring I bought. I knew it was right, I was proposing in Costa Rica.

We traveled to Costa Rica and everything went really smoothly, until the day I was supped to propose got rained out. Thankfully, the photographer was able to reschedule us for a couple days later.

Addie had no idea. She thought we were taking family pictures, which is how it started. After each couple got their photos taken, they would head back to the main part of the beach before the tide came up too high. Addie and I were the last ones with the photographers to get our photos done.

After a couple photos together, I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. She stopped me before I could even finish. She had no idea at all! After she said yes, we went back to the main beach and we celebrated with my family. We then went to a nice restaurant and watched the sunset. It was the perfect day. Cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

Travel

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Lindale, an IHG Hotel

Comfort Suites Lindale - Tyler North