It all began on Leap Day 2024, when fate decided to give us an extra day—and what better way to spend it than meeting each other at Great Raft Brewery? What started as a simple evening out quickly turned into something that felt like it was meant to be. We quickly realized that shared hobbies of travel, photography, camping, and sampling new foods and beverages was just the beginning. There was a unique chemistry that allowed conversation to flow so easily that time seemed to pass much more quickly than normal! From that day forward, every moment together just fit.

By the end of 2024, we were spending nearly all our free time together, from day trips to a hot air balloon festival to an evening at a corn maze with pumpkin picking at Dixie Maze Farms. In December of that year, we began our travel adventures by going to Conroe together for the first time to celebrate Chelsea’s niece (Bella’s) birthday and to experience the magic of Santa’s Wonderland. Just a few weeks later, we rang in the new year in Gatlinburg. It was raining all evening, stopping just a few minutes before the ball drop, fireworks, and drone show exactly at midnight! We later stayed a night in a beautiful cabin outside of Chattanooga that had the most spectacular view of the sunset. That trip really stirred the feeling in both our hearts that this was just the beginning of something special!

As the months rolled on, so did our adventures. We explored New Orleans with Josh’s family, spent time with Chelsea’s granny in New Braunfels, soaked up the sun in Pensacola for July 4th, explored the beauty of Tennessee (complete with a night at The Grand Ole Opry to celebrate their 100th year!), and floated lazily down the San Marcos River.

Eventually, our travels took us all the way to Washington for one of Chelsea’s work trips. Neither of us knew it yet, but this would become the most meaningful trip of all. While exploring the breathtaking Quinault Rainforest, at an overlook on a hike surrounded by towering western red cedar and Douglas fir trees, Josh leaned in began speaking about how love grows—strong, steadfast, and resilient— much like the life of a tree. Then, he dropped to one knee and asked the question we’d both been dreaming about:

“Will you marry me?”

While this timeline tries to cover the highlights of Chelsea and Joshua's journey from their first date to their engagement, they went on so many more adventures together. As such, there's an alarmingly large number of pictures not included in the above timeline that are worth sharing. Below is a gallery of their favorite memories they've made together.