Everyone remembers the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic: binge-watching shows on Netflix, wearing stuffy masks, having groceries delivered to your house, and relying on all forms of technology to communicate with your friends and family. Despite this being a time where we were supposed to be "socially distanced", we still managed to find each other... through Tinder, of course.

It's a tale as old as time- we both swiped right! Alex remembers how clearly my bio stated that I was only interested in something "serious", and that I had very pretty blue eyes. All I remember is laughing at his Tinder Bio, which said, "T-Pain was only 23 when he rhymed "Mansion" with "Wiscansin". Clearly, he is quite the comedian.

Once we realized that COVID-19 wasn't just going to "go away", we finally decided to meet in person a month after we started talking. Our first date consisted of us walking Luna (our Great Dane), drinking too much Moscato on my apartment's back porch, and telling each other a variety of stories until it was finally time to part ways. My face hurt so much from smiling and laughing with him, and I knew that I wanted to see him again.

A few short weeks later on a dinner date, Alex looked at me and said, "So, are we making this thing official or what?" I sarcastically responded with, "Well, maybe if you actually ask me to be your girlfriend, I'd think about it." After a good laugh, he finally asked me, and the rest was history.

After three years of dating, Alex knew that I was (not so) patiently waiting for him to pop the big question. We decided to plan a spontaneous vacation to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina in July, and I was hoping that this was going to be the moment that I had been waiting for.

As our vacation neared the end, I started to lose hope. We had done so many fun excursions (horse back riding on the beach, kayaking at night, renting a Retro Car to drive on the beach, etc.) and still... he hadn't proposed. I was starting to feel so bummed, that was, until he asked me if I wanted to go on a sunset walk on the beach on our very last night.

About halfway down the beach, Alex asked a random family if they could take our picture. I thought that this was very strange, considering he HATES getting his photo taken. This is when I finally put two and two together, and before I could say anything, he was already down on his knee asking if I would marry him. I was so shocked in that moment, but still managed to say, "YES!" to the love of my life (with a face full of ugly tears).

It was the best day of my life, and it will remain that way until November 16th, 2024 : our wedding day!

- Haley