We met on January 8th, 2023.

Started dating February 9th, 2023.

Got engaged August 27th, 2023.

And are now getting married October 19th, 2024.

We know, we move quick! But when you know you know. So why wait!

We met in the typical country love song kind of way- we met at a country bar. He bought me a drink and as Morgan Wallen would say, I danced on his boots 'till closin' time! He asked me for my number and we have been inseparable ever since. I don't usually believe in love at first sight, but boy was it love at first sight. Or maybe I was just drunk. ;)

Oh the story of a life time. Buckle up.

It was a beautiful day near the end of the summer at Rock Glen; a beautiful waterfall in Arkona. The water was freezing but I was the only one brave enough to get in, Jake sat on the rocks watching and talking to me the whole time and wouldn't get in no matter how hard I taunted him. Now I know why.

A couple hours had gone by and I was getting hungry so I was ready to leave, but Jake wanted some pictures. So Jake went to get his phone and his shirt from his bag and we asked these lovely ladies to take a couple pictures of us.

I was restless because I was hungry so I didn't care about putting my shorts on or for Jake to put his shirt on so I grabbed the shirt and threw it behind us. The same shirt he was hiding the ring box in. Luckily he managed to grab the box while I took the shirt. But keep this in the back of your head.

As I turn back around Jake is on one knee and I immediately start to well up! He starts saying all these wonderful things but I cut him off quick when I go to look at the ring, horrified, because the box was empty. The box. That should have the ring. Is empty. Everyone around us is clapping and whooing and are so excited! And we can't even move.

We start frantically looking for the ring thinking the box opened when I grabbed the shirt. We look in the shirt, in the rocks, in the water. But it's a waterfall. So it's definitely lost and long gone. We realize we can't do anything about it so we get off the rock, thank the ladies for the pictures and head back to our bag.

As Jake goes to put the shirt back in his bag, guess what is sitting on top of everything. That's right. The ring.

So after the emotional rollercoaster of this proposal, we laughed it off and he still asked me to marry him and I of course said yes!

After 2-3 months of looking for THE ring, I finally found the perfect one. I went with my mom and bought the ring, I cried a bit, I was shaking but I was also really excited. I called my best friend Jer and I tell him all about it, I'm telling him ideas on how I pictured it going, how I wanted him there to get professional pictures of the whole thing. With him working 5-6 hours away we had to plan something a month or 2 away.

Shafia then wanted to go to Rock Glen which has a beautiful waterfall, and of course I couldn't have passed that up. So we're getting ready and I'm trying to hide the ring in the bag and she kept wanting to put stuff in it and it was stressing me out the whole time that she would find it. We get to Rock Glen and we set out stuff aside on the rocks and I made sure the ring was still there, so I bundled my shirt around the ring and I went over to Shafia.

We hangout by the waterfall and we are just relaxing and talking, enjoying the view. More and more people kept showing up and the water got colder and colder, so I finally shut the nerves out and I suggested we get pictures with the waterfall.

I stepped away to get my phone, on the way back I asked a lady if she would like to take some pictures and she somehow knew what I was doing right away and agreed right away.

I get up on the rock in front of the water fall with Shafia and I'm as nervous as I have ever been. She's fixing her hair obviously, so I bend down and grab the box from my shirt, I get on one knee and i completely forget the whole speech I had written down and I just start rambling all the cute stuff. Shafia is blown away for a few seconds then quickly realizes the ring isn't in the box, it was empty. THE RING WASNT THERE. We quickly panic and start looking around for the ring and with the water being right next to us we assumed the worse.

I start laughing as I'm trying not to panic and I quickly go back to my bag and I'm looking through the whole bag taking everything out slowly and finally the ring was at the bottom.

When we first arrived I checked to see if the ring was there right? But I was nervous and shaking so I quickly looked but also quickly closed it and I closed it on my shirt and the ring must've slipped out then.

It was unforgettable to say the least.