So there we were... on a Royal Caribbean cruise during Spring Break of 2015. Elliot was wearing his Dallas Stars polo, which caught Samantha's eye, as an avid hockey fan (though team superiority is still in question). We hit it off and kept in touch after going back to our respective colleges to finish out the school year.

About a year after meeting, Samantha made the post-graduation move to Dallas, TX in order to be closer the Elliot during his pilot training in Wichita Falls. For the next year, we'd commute just about every weekend, until Elliot moved to Phoenix to fly the F-16 at Luke AFB.

After Elliot picked Samantha up from work to go to dinner, he suggested a visit to the Dallas Arboretum to kill time before our reservation. While we briskly walked through the gardens, we "stumbled upon" one of Elliot's oldest friends, Mac Boles, taking picture of the lake nearby.

After chatting for a few minutes, we turned to take in the view, giving Mac a chance to pass Elliot the ring. This ring was special because the same diamond was used by Samantha's grandparents when they got engaged in 1948. With both our grandparents combined over 150 years of marriage, we have a lot to aspire to and hope that this first step is the beginning of a long and happy marriage!