On January 11, 2018, I went on a life-changing first date. I wrote a blog post the morning of, never published it because I didn’t know what to do with it. If you ask Joe, it wasn’t a great first date, but it was in fact, both of our last first date. 

By the fourth date, Joe asked me to be his girlfriend… I said no. I felt like it was too fast, little did I know! The second time he asked, on January 23, 2018, I said yes to being his girlfriend.

In February my apartment flooded, he met my parents for the first time in the worst circumstance, we were smelly, wet, and frustrated. He did amazing. It was during that time that I knew he was someone very special. For me- it was a very stressful experience and I don’t know how I would’ve handled it without him. 

From there, I’m not sure if there was ever a moment of doubt in my head that he was the person I was going to marry one day. We openly talked about getting married, having babies, and spending the rest of our lives together. He faked proposed a few times, usually just to get my eye roll reaction. When we talked about getting engaged I thought we really needed to wait at least a year- I’m not sure why, I think it has something to with the stigma of getting engaged early. 

It was around April/May that we decided we needed a vacation. We decided that in June we would visit his sister in Miami. It ended up working out very well, and we were able to meet up with my family for their vacation too. We drove to Miami, from Frederick, Maryland. If you ask me, that’s a true test of any relationship- romantic or otherwise, spend 16 continuous hours in a car with someone and you’ll learn a lot. We had a great time in Miami, I met his sister for the first time, and from there we started driving back. 

We then traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, where we met up with my family for a few days. Now, I didn’t want Joe to ask for permission to marry me, I just wanted my parents to know that it was a thing that was going to happen. Weird request, but I’m close with my parents, but I’m also not their property. I don’t need permission to do things, I’m 24. Anyway, while we were on vacation, Joe stayed up later than me one night with my parents and shared his thoughts and did end up kind of asking because apparently, it’s awkward just to tell someone you’re going to propose to their daughter. 

The next day, Joe, my parents, and I went to a plantation and learned some history of Charleston, I was wearing a cute outfit. We went back to the Airbnb, I changed out of my cute outfit to go on a walk around Charleston with Joe. Changing was a mistake because as we walked down a pier and it was just the two of us, Joe proposed. 

At first, I didn’t see the ring and I thought he was joking. He’s jokingly asked so many times, that it took a second for it to actually set in. He didn’t get down on one knee which I appreciate because that’s just not us.  The ring is absolutely stunning, I told him wanted something different and he did just that. 

I am usually very afraid of things moving quickly. I’ve always said I’m going to date someone for 5 years before getting engaged, as I’ve gotten older that number changed here and there to maybe three years. I guess, at the end of the day, when you know, you know. 

So now that I’m an engaged woman, there will be more wedding related content coming this way! Let me know if there’s anything I should specifically include! Additionally- all of our pictures were taken by my good friend Gabby! Follow her on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gabbaline13/