Ethan's side of the story: Annette and I met in a little place called Rockford, Illinois, as missionaries. We arrived at the same time and served in the same ward for about four months. The zone was big with a lot of missionaries but there was only two Spanish speaking companionships (I wonder who were in those companionships...) and the ward where we served was awesome and close knit, we made really great friends with some of the members, and by default, I became friends with Annette. I promise these aren't excuses, being responsible missionaries there was nothing that was said or done to give the wrong impression.

Then, before you know it we were leaving the area, she was sad to see me go (not confirmed but it had to be). Soon after, she went home, but not before giving me her email so we could keep in touch (look who made the first move). Conversation was only friendly at first but soon thereafter there was a confession by...someone...that they had feelings for the other and luckily there was mutuality in that regard. We continued talking until I got home and after I did, things picked up pretty quickly, it started off immediately with FaceTiming (and boy was she nervous), we would talk for hours and hours, staying up way too late especially with a time difference, just enjoying each others company until eventually she said the first "I love you". (If you know Annette then you know that that's shocking).

Then I booked a trip to Utah (that means my mom did it for me) to visit her. That trip was nothing less than amazing, that week went by so fast and it really made me realize that she was who I wanted. And I'm pretty sure it was the same for her. It was one of those "when you know you know" kind of things but I still went to the temple and prayed A TON for confirmation, we talked about it a lot and knew we wanted to get married, even after I went back home. Saying goodbye was so hard and I wished I missed my flight home.

But then I went to Arizona for a short time to start flight school and Annette planned a crazy surprise visit to me, she drove down 10 hours just to see me. And that's where I proposed, let me explain. So, Annette came in on Saturday and the ring I had bought for her hadn't come in yet and to be honest I was wondering if it ever would BUT it finally arrived a few days later on Tuesday! I proposed the very next day...I took her to an art museum because I know she loves art, and then tried so hard to get her to see the sunset at an outlook, I thought that me trying so hard to get her to watch the sunset with me would've given it away, but luckily it didn't. While we were there she asked so many times "are you gonna propose?" so I told her "whenever the ring comes in." and that seemed to work to get her to think it wasn't happening...oh but it was!

We sat on a wall watching the sun set over the city, she was so calm and just taking it all in while I was freaking out. My heart was racing as I was building up the courage to get down on my knee and propose to her. Once I did I said "I have a question to ask you" and before I could kneel she grabbed me and practically screamed "no not here!!". You see, she wanted it to be completely private with no spectators so I drove her down to a different part that we had to ourselves, got out of the car and said, "Annette, will you marry me?" and she responded with an enthusiastic, and in classic Annette-fashion, "yeah!".

Annette's side of the story: Ethan and I met while serving our missions in Chicago, Illinois. The members were unified and extremely close with one another, and the two of us became fast friends. What drew me to him was how serious he was; something about his RBF made me want to be his friend (NOTHING ELSE). I left the mission first but gave him my personal email to ensure we remained in contact. We haven't stopped talking since and my sleep schedule hasn't recovered since.

Unsurprisingly, the two of us started dating a few weeks after he got home. I like to think it's because of my good looks and charming personality. Funnily enough, we made it official on the day he'd confessed to having a crush on me a year prior. Sick of the long distance, Ethan came to visit me in Utah. When I went to go pick him up from the airport I was freaking out because of how nervous and anxious I was. Plus, I didn't know if I should hug him or what but luckily it all worked out. It was weird to call him Ethan at first but I quickly adjusted to him as my boyfriend.

During his visit, we attended a mission reunion. While Ethan was talking to our mission president he motioned for me to join the conversation, but before I even opened my mouth he asked if me and Ethan were finally dating. Which really sealed the deal for me that I wanted Ethan to be in my life. The two of us began talking seriously about the future. We both knew long distance would be hard, but I knew I wanted to marry him and he was more than worth it. Listen, if I'm willingly losing sleep just to talk to him he better be worth it.

Trips to visit one another, long FaceTime calls, and handwritten letters helped us through the distance. Eventually, we discussed the topic of marriage and he approached me about my personal taste in rings. So I took it upon myself to give him 6 options from which he could choose from so that way he knew I would love it and I'd still be surprised.

At one point, I went to visit him in Arizona and had a feeling I would get engaged. But, I mean how could I not? I had literally sent him options of rings and I had told my friends about it already so it was going to happen. The only thing that was concerning was whether the ring would arrive in time. I tried prying Ethan to see if the ring had arrived but he wouldn't budge. He did a great job at hiding the fact of whether or not he had the ring. He asked me to go on a date to an art museum and maybe catch the sunset at a lookout. He seemed a bit pressed for time but I was completely unaware of what was he was planning. We went through the museum a lot faster than we both anticipated so we headed out to Dobbins lookout to catch the sunset.

When we got there, it was the perfect time because the sun was starting to go down and we had just enough time to look around to find a spot to watch it. While watching the sunset I kept telling Ethan how it would be a perfect time to propose and asking if he would just propose already. To which he replied, "I will when I get the ring." Instantly my mood dropped because in my mind that meant it wasn't going to arrive while I was visiting. While I was freaking out internally Ethan came in front of me and said, "I have an important question to ask you," and I immediately grabbed him by his arms so that he couldn't bend down and told him, "no, not here." You see, there was people around and I had told Ethan that when he proposed I wanted it to just be us two. It would be weird to me to have strangers clapping for us in that moment.

He quickly suggested that we drive a bit back down the mountain to another spot. Once we made it with still some time left to see part of the sunset poking over the mountains; he of course got down on one knee and asked to marry me. To which I replied a very enthusiastic, "yeah!" But, I made up for it on the way back down. I kept looking at the ring and still in a bit of shock of what had just happened I turned on our song, "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis, and looked over at him and we both just smiled at each other and the happiness and love felt so tangible that I started crying.

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