Our story begins long before we started dating. I (Ella) have known Bryce since I moved to Republic in 2013. We pretty immediately became friends and even "dated" (for about 2 months) in 6th grade. Funny thing is both our families used to always say we would get married... look where we are now. Anyway, it wasn't until his sister invited me to her birthday party in 2019 that we started to look at each other as more than friends. I would consider this our first unofficial date.

We "talked" for about a month and it was obvious we liked each other. So, after some convincing Bryce finally asked me to be his girlfriend on September 14, 2019. Then, he promptly took a nap.

Time flew by and before we knew it we had been dating for a year. During this year we went on our first official date, went to our first prom together, and shared our first "I love you".

Next came year two. We went to our second prom together, went on some road trips, and graduated high school. This is the year we started to feel like this relationship could truly last forever.

Then year three. We got our fur baby Mozzie, welcomed our nephew Ryker, went to Alabama with his family, saw Garth Brooks, and went to Colorado with my family. Such an eventful year. But the best was yet to come.

Finally the best year yet. Bryce and I went to the Virgin Islands together, I graduated nursing school, and celebrated Brittney (his sister) and Jase (his brother in-law) getting married. This was the year we really started talking about wanting to get married. To my surprise, on September 2, 2023 Bryce got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. I've never been so sure of a "yes" in my life.