A Decade Down, Forever to go

It was September 2013 when Alex gave my friends and me a ride home from West High School. We picked up smoothies on the way, but while he was playing it cool, I already had a crush. He was a senior, he had a car, and have you seen that hair? I was smitten. We were friends before it turned into anything more than that, but we made it official on March 2nd, 2013 when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I had never said yes to anything more quickly! It was the second easiest 'yes' of my life, just behind him asking me to marry him almost ten years later.

This past summer, Alex and I decided to take a trip to Ireland and Scotland. I had lived there for a bit during college and Alex had only visited briefly before, so we took two weeks to see more of the rolling countryside. One of our favorite days was on the western Irish Coast in the Aran Islands. We planned to have a sunset dinner on the top of the Cliffs of Moher after our tour of Inisheer. I had a feeling that something special was coming, especially since Alex seemed so nervous! What we didn't realize was how strict the ferries schedule was... and how long it takes to bike fully around the island. We missed the boat and only barely made it for the last ferry of the evening, when it was already getting dark and the restaurant was closed. I only found out later that my suspicions were correct, and he had planned a proposal for that evening - but we missed it! We continued on with our trip and wound up in St. Andrews, Scotland. I love visiting botanical gardens, so Alex planned out a day in the St. Andrews Botanical Garden. We walked through the gardens for an hour or so and decided to save the best view for last. I had no idea that he was secretly planning to propose at the overlook! I turned around to take a picture of the landscape and when I whirled back to him, he was on one knee. It was the sweetest moment and so special.