Tyler and I met as awkward 15 year olds back during his freshman year & my sophomore year of high school in photography class. The year was 2018, we were both fresh out of relationships, and our teacher assigns us a project in groups of threes. I had only 2 friends in that class at the time, which would’ve made our group of 3 perfect, but thankfully one of those said friends dropped out of high school the week before this project (thanks Lexi), leaving only myself and one friend. Since we needed a third member of our group, I mustered up the courage to turn around and ask the shy cute boy who always sat behind me if he needed a group to be in, and he said “sure”. That’s where it all began, and I thank the universe everyday that everything worked out the way it did. One different set of actions, and he and I may have never met. This is the first picture we ever took “together”. I say that loosely, saying he didn’t really know I was taking it. He quickly became my very best friend, and within a few months, we all know where this leads.

Fast forward a few months, Tyler takes me officially on our first official date by ourselves for our 6 month anniversary to the Cheesecake Factory (which is now a staple restaurant to us). Neither of us were ever old enough to go on a date alone (without parents) before this, so it was a pretty monumental moment for the both of us. Within these last 6 months, Tyler and I learned every single detail about each other. He and I could tell you anything about one another. We spent endless hours on facetime after school, up until we had to go to sleep at night. Even back then at 16 years old, I knew he was gonna be it for me.

I’ll spare you all the little details, but as time went by we began creating all sorts of memories together. We ended up going to 4 high school dances, I went to all of his football games and C9 events, and he came to as many dance/marching band events of mine as our schedules would allow. We watched as each other learn how to drive, take senior photos, the list goes on and on. Every memory in high schools has a memory of us attached to it. We hit all of our huge milestones together, and I couldn’t be more blessed to share those memories with him.

Finally the day came that Tyler graduated, and might I just add, I couldn’t have been more proud of him. High School wasn’t easy for either of us for numerous reasons, but we had finally made it. The world we’d known since we were 5 years old was over, and it was time to move on into the big kid world. While it was absolutely terrifying, I was so glad I had him to get through it. The time came when he and I decided that we were ready for the next step, and Tyler moved in. Not only was that probably the biggest adjustment i’d ever made in life, but it was also one of the best. Nothing will ever beat coming home from a long day, and falling asleep in his arms. Sorry to be so cheesy, but that’s living the life man.

Best. Night. Of. My. Life. Tyler and I have been through so many firsts together. First jobs, first dates, first cars, first trips together, first time living our own, first everything. All of the struggles, all of the disagreements, and also all of the amazing memories we’ve made led up to this night. Christmas was basically over, it was roughly 10pm. We had just gotten home from a long day of traveling to see family, and I asked him if he could please help me feed the guinea pigs and give them water. I was quite taken aback when he said “No”. It’s rare that you hear no come out of his mouth. So, I take my semi-confused and annoyed self without much further of an explanation to feed the pigs myself. Once i’m done, I open the door and walk out into a PITCH BLACK house. This annoyed me even further, as I knew Tyler was probably around the corner ready to give me a nerf bullet to the face. But as I turned the corner and flipped on the light, there he was, on his knee. Tyler had joked with me about this moment for months, always pretending to propose and somehow always ending with a “sike haha just kidding”, so I 100% believed he was messing with me again. But alas, he gave me a huge speech (i’ll spare the details) and asked me to legit marry him this time. It took me a moment to register what just happened, and after a few “are you sure you’re not messing with me” and “you better tell me right now if you’re kidding or i’ll be so upset”, I finally realized it was real, and of course said YES. With so much love and support from our families, it just made it even better. We are both so unbelievably excited to share our big day with you all, and to officially spend the rest of our lives together<3