As many of you know Derek and I have been together for 10 years and counting. We met through my brother Kyle as he and Derek played hockey and ball together. The first time I met Derek officially was when we were around 8 or 9, our families were both camping at pike lake, and Derek and Kyle were attached at the hip. Kyle had brought Derek to our campsite where Derek, mullet and all, proceeded to eat my ENTIRE package of oreo cookies. I was furious but considering my quiet nature, I just sat there and glared at him. Derek would say I was "the weird girl who never talked". Turns out to this day he is STILL stealing my snacks. We have grown up together, experiencing every new part of life together. We went to College in Medicine Hat together where we met and created an amazing group of friends who we even now consider family. After swearing I would never move back to Kindersley, Derek ended up with an amazing job, with some incredible coworkers, bought a house and started to settle in Coleville. A tiny village packed with awesome people. Sure enough once I completed my Nursing degree, I landed my first job here in Kindersley and I fell in love with my work team that quickly turned into family. The rest, as they say, is history.

Engagement story:

One thing many of you may not know is I am a total Jerk when it comes to surprises. I can always figure out my Christmas gifts, and any time there is some sort of surprise happening, I get very nosy and seem to figure it out ruining everyone's efforts. Well sure enough it took Cassidy, Keyana, and Derek all working together to pull one over on me. Derek and I had planned on going to Switzerland for a long overdue vacation and my girls at work had me convinced that I was going to come back from that trip engaged. I honestly loved the idea. But then Derek bought me a couples photo session for Valentines Day. I immediately guessed that that would be when he proposed. Naturally I called my girl Keyana to freak out with excitement. Keyana said Derek hadn't said anything to her about a ring yet and that she would be very mad if he didn't consult her first. After we hung up I found out later that Keyana Immediately messaged Derek and said something along the lines of "She knows! Abort mission!". So plan B. Cassidy and I took a trip to Saskatoon where for the entire day, we goggled at expensive engagement rings, talked wedding plans for her big day, and she proceeded to say, multiple times "oh my god I don't know how I would keep a secret if Derek told me you were getting engaged, it would be so hard to keep it a secret". After we got home, Cass said that Derek had picked up her pups, so she was going to come in and grab them before going home. So blanket hoodie and all I went inside to find Derek all dressed up, with flowers in his hand. I looked back and Cass was video taping and saying "take that off take that off" (my blanket hoodie). Derek took my hand and walked up into the living room where he had hung twinkle lights (my absolute favorite), lit candles, and hung up pictures of us from our entire relationship. He read me the sweetest and most genuine note, and asked me to be his wife.