It was the fall of 2006. Nickelback and Justin Timberlake sounded from iPod nanos everywhere, low-rise jeans hit an unfortunate peak in popularity, and Alec and Delaney didn’t know it yet, but their story was beginning as they arrived at Jacobsen Middle School, where their paths crossed for the first time. By the time they reached their freshman year of high school, Delaney and Alec had grown close. They talked. They laughed. Flirting happened. Only for Delaney to suggest, over a MySpace conversation, to just be friends. Alec reluctantly agreed as he knew they shouldn’t waste their bond on what could be just a high school fling. Throughout high school Delaney and Alec became inseparable, from class projects to after school hangouts and even showing up arm in arm to the Sadie Hawkins Dance, Homecoming and Prom. They were the best of friends. They were also absolutely smitten. But unwilling to risk the friendship they’d built, they kept things platonic, all the while agonizing to their friends about their true feelings. Finally, during their senior year of high school, Alec arrived at Delaney’s house with a bouquet of flowers and a handmade poster, and asked Delaney to become his girlfriend. Delaney still has the poster.

Over the next ten years Alec and Delaney embraced the adventures of their 20s, evolving both as individuals and as a couple. They attended Cal State Fullerton together, bouncing from the freshman dorms to raucous apartments shared with their friends to the first place they called their own. Countless hiking excursions and overseas adventures later, they both accepted teaching jobs in the Central Coast and moved to their home in Arroyo Grande in 2019. Last summer, with their time off work, the couple began planning the road trip of a lifetime. Alec knew it was time to get down on one knee for the girl he’s wanted all along. Though Delaney didn’t know what was coming, traveling up California, through Oregon and into Washington, she couldn’t help but wonder. One evening as the sun began to set in Olympic National Park, they squeezed in one more hike to a picturesque view of Mount Olympus where Alec finally found the perfect spot to pop the question. Now, Delaney and Alec are thrilled to join you in celebration as they embark on their biggest adventure yet.