For weeks we were planning a photo shoot in San Francisco... The chilly morning of Saturday, May 15th, we meet our photographer at The Palace of Fine Arts, shake off the chills and begin smiling and snapping away! Our photographer was playing a few of our favorite songs, including “Share my Life” by Kem.. so we continued our photo shoot full of more smiles, more loving embraces with subtle tunes playing as our own personal soundtrack. The rotunda was the last stop in our photo shoot! Here, we began taking our individual shots. As I was taking my photos, I can hear the the familiar song by India Arie “I am Ready for Love” and not paying much attention, I continue posing & smiling. The song grows louder & as I'm still posing my dog Kobe runs to me out of no where! Shocked & surprised, I look down to find Kobe wearing the cutest blue bandana with two wedding bands attached. Looking around I now hear our song even closer, but a saxophonist is playing just a few feet away ... I then turn to my left to see my handsome boyfriend kneeling on one knee with his hand behind his back. Immediately the tears begin rolling down my face. Seth reveals a beautiful pear shaped diamond engagement ring 💍 and he asks me to marry him, and in between more tears, smiles and sobs lol, I said Yes!!!! We hear a loud cheer of applause from bystanders and tourists who witnessed our proposal! It was, what I thought, the highlight of my day! We then travel just a few miles away to the San Francisco Pier 39 for a celebratory lunch. As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by more smiles, cheers and well wishes from our friends and family who had gathered for a Surprise Engagement Luncheon. We were surrounded by our loved ones who traveled from Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona and various parts of California to be there with us ❤️

We read a quote that said "Long distance relationships can be hard, but incredible. If you can love, support, respect and trust each other from a distance, just imagine what it would be like when you are together." 1,780 miles away, we established a solid friendship. From countless phone calls, texts and virtual date nights, we intentionally got to know each other. We read & prayed together, learned each others highs, lows & everything else in between. The 3 hour & 28 minute non stop flights to and from SFO & DFW were definitely worth the time spent. With God at the center of what we established; we knew we were headed in the right direction. Here we are, just months away from becoming one and we couldn't be happier. After we say "I do", we'll both be traveling quite a bit as Mal completes the last leg of her Master's program Internship in the Bay Area. That just means more time spent together flying the friendly skies ✈️, more frequent flyer miles and more last minute meals at Pappedaux at DFW, Terminal C, Gate 11, to be exact :) We are thankful for our journey and we are looking forward to the future and what is to come ❤️