Our Adventure

Ashley and Alicia met in Fallon, NV. They met while playing the bad guys on the ground in a Navy field exercise and got to talking. Ashley was about to go to flight school and Alicia was attempting to persuade her to go helicopters instead of jets. This made Ashley initially think that Alicia hated her because the inclination toward jets. Later on, Alicia needed someone to watch her pup, Starbuck. She heard about a new Ensign that was looking to hang with other pilots. Alicia reached out and discovered that it was Ashley! After spending time together and learning about each other, on September 1st, 2018 they made the relationship official.

Being in the Navy tends to send people in all sorts of directions and in their case it was opposite sides of the USA. Alicia was still in Fallon, NV and Ashley moved to Pensacola, FL to start flight school. They did long distance and, as in any relationship, had challenges with that which pushed them somewhat. That time allowed them to grow independently and to grow closer to God and to their families. As God would have it, everything aligned and they both ended up stationed in Virginia Beach, VA around the same time. As Rafiki in 'The Lion King' points out- "It does not matter, it's in the past". Well, it does matter, and they did grow, and worked hard to get though it all together.

Ashley wanted to be the first to propose and she talked with their mutual friends to help make it happen. Alicia's family came to Virginia for Thanksgiving and there were plans to go see the lights at the Botanical Gardens the next evening. Ashley told Alicia that she wanted to dress up to get good pictures at the Gardens even though it was a drive thru this year (thanks COVID). They borrowed a friends' SUV so that it would fit the whole family. When they arrived at home, friends had decorated for Christmas and put photos of the two of them with lighted letters on the hearth that said "Marry Me". Their song was playing! To be honest it was all a blur of joy and happiness. Ashley got down on a knee and asked Alicia to marry her, with their pups both there wearing scarves that said "My humnas are getting married" and their friends hidden in a side room taking pictures and video. Then Alicia's family came inside and the celebration began.

Alicia also ran her proposal by their friends and planned to do a Secret Santa with everyone, but it was rigged and she had Ashley. After our friends had arrived and we had eaten, we gave our gifts out. Ashley opened her gift from Alicia and it was a stocking. Not just any stocking, one that she had been working on for 10+ years and as Alicia worked on it she prayed for her future spouse. It was not just the stocking, it was stuffed inside with a box and a ring. As Ashley pulled it out, Alicia got down on one knee at her side and asked Ashley to marry her. She said YES.

We found out after we both had proposed from our friends that we were originally planning to propose the VERY SAME DAY! We both were planning for a December 12 proposal, but Ashley would be in the morning and Alicia would be in the evening. Now, looking back, the questions that our friends were asking, "Do you care who proposes first?", "What would you think if you proposed the same day?", should have been some sort of clue to us. We never caught on, and both ended up changing the day anyway.