pop the champagne!

We had known each other since high school but it all changed the first summer back home from college. We started hanging out thinking nothing would get too serious since Lauren was heading back to Tallahassee (a solid 7 hour drive away) in the fall. Our first (non date) date was at boomers where Julio won in Guitar Hero but got sat on by Lauren's fat sumo wrestler in Street Fighter - some might say this is were the competitiveness of our relationship began. The summer was filled with hangouts and long walks on the beach (so cliché I know) and when fall rolled around we decided to stay in touch, you know just to see what would happen... After a few months of non-stop texting and weekly Facetime calls we realized it was getting pretty serious. In October Julio drove all the way to FSU to visit Lauren on Halloween weekend, where we went to our first party together! At the end of the trip Julio finally asked Lauren to be official and this is where our unbelievable journey began.

(from Julio's perspective) I planned a weekend to Asheville, NC for our 8 year anniversary. I started planning it in the summer telling Lauren that I wanted to go to Burnpile which is a beer festival from our favorite brewery in Asheville called Burial! I also told her we would do hikes on the trip and visit local coffee shops. On Friday October 14th, we started by going on a hike at Graveyard Fields followed by going to Ecusta Brewing for lunch. After lunch, we went for our final hike of the day at Johns Rock. When we made it to the top, Lauren enjoyed the view while I set up the tripod for a picture of the scenery but actually to record our proposal. I walked up to her to pose for pictures and then hugged her and started to talk as I made my way down to one knee, before I could finish what I was saying, Lauren said YES and then YES again after I popped the question. Afterward we had some Peanut Butter Whiskey shooters to celebrate during sunset and made our way back from the hike to go out for a celebratory dinner.