M:
Justin and I first met in the spring of 2002 while attending University of California, Santa Barbara. I remember being immediately impressed with and drawn to him. We hit it off quickly and would see each other on different occasions or on campus between classes and walk our bikes together while we got caught up. It wasn’t until the spring of 2004 when we were passing more and more hours in eachother’s company we began wondering where our relationship might be headed. We both planned to stay in Santa Barbara after graduation; for which I was quite thankful until Justin announced seemingly out of the blue that he had been hired by a company in Los Angeles. He would soon be relocating to start his first post college job. Quickly overcome by “what might have been” I asked him to promise to let me know anytime he came back to Santa Barbara. He agreed and I watched him pack up and drive away that July.

I figured that was that until the call came in mid September; Justin’s best friend from high school Brandon, was getting married and they would be celebrating the end of his bachelor days in Santa Barbara. Justin asked if I was free to meet him after dinner; I was and I did. The weeks that followed were filled with phone calls late into the night and a trip to visit him during which I met an adorable four month old Beagle named Roxie that seemingly sealed our fate. They both stole my heart and we began dating soon after. I must have made the 90 minute drive to Los Angeles at least once a week those first couple of years. The distance between us wasn’t ideal and our relationship was further put to the test when after traveling around Europe in 2006 with a dear friend (Cori, a bridesmaid) I moved home to Napa and left Justin in Pasadena. We managed to visit each other once a month and also enjoyed many trips together, to Arizona, Las Vegas and San Diego, to name a few. Still crazy about each other, we both wondered when-and if- we would ever share a zip code.

J:
It didn’t take long for me to figure out that living 400 miles apart wasn’t going to cut it. Lucky for me I worked for a company that had offices pretty much wherever I might want to move to. In 2008 I moved to Mountain View where I was able to move just down the street from some of my old college roommates and good friends Dustin and Matt. While starting a new job that would eventually lead me around the world, I loved having Megan within an hour or so drive again but realized that moving to Mountain View wasn’t going to be the solution we were looking for to share a zip code. Her strong roots in Napa and love of her job at Frog’s Leap were reason enough not to leave and I couldn’t truly say that Mountain View was where we both should be living. We did have a lot of fun there, enjoying the downtown area, the close proximity to Shoreline Amphitheater during concert season, and being in the heart of “Beagle Meetup” country. We also took advantage of my job and took a trip to New York together around Megan’s birthday, the first time either of us had been to New York city. However, the sale of my company and the distance between us spurred me to start looking for a new job within the year.

This also opened up the possibility of us moving in together in Napa, Megan’s home town. In July of 2009 we started our house hunt and I started my job hunt I quickly found out that things in Napa are awfully nice. Not only would I be able to live in a house but I’d be doing it with the girl I love! Once my new job was established and we found our house, things started to click into place for me. For the first time I was able to go to Frog’s Leap events, check out the great downtown Napa area, and really dig into the town that Meg grew up in. Not only was I happy but Roxie was also loving her new house and backyard. It was around this time that I started to think about making our new family official. We took a trip to Hawaii in July for my friend JJ’s wedding and by that time I was already making plans for my own proposal.

M:
The Proposal
I think I had made my desire to marry Justin clear to him for a couple of years leading up to the proposal in August of 2010; but as the time approached I never suspected he was planning to ask me to marry him. We had long planned to join his parents for a weekend in Tahoe. In the days leading up to the trip, I repeatedly asked if there were any activities or outings planned; I was truly just curious. Justin called me at work that Friday hours just before we were supposed to leave announcing that he had made reservations for us to take a cruise around Lake Tahoe on Sunday morning that would end with brunch at The Lone Eagle Grill at The Hyatt. I was incredibly excited- not particuarly for the cruise or brunch but because he had uncharteristicaly and truly surprised me with this thoughtful outing. I shared how impressed and loved I was with all of my friends at work and still- suspected nothing.

J:
After our trip to Hawaii I was on the hunt for an engagement ring of my own. A month later in August I had finally found what I was looking for. Once I had the ring I had to find the perfect place to propose. I never had any doubts but I wanted to create a really special day for us. I was inspired when I found a boat cruise around Lake Tahoe and with a little encouragement from my co-workers I rented out the whole boat so we would have total privacy.

We made our way up to Tahoe and although it was a little rainy I was holding out hope for a clear day on the lake on Sunday. I woke up early on Sunday morning and double checked the ring was still hidden in my parent’s closet (where else would it go?). As I was pacing around trying to figure out how I was going to do it and what I was going to say I got a call from the boat cruise. They told me that although they knew what I had planned the water was just too choppy to take us out and although there was a chance we could still go it wasn’t looking very good.

Immediately I had to come up with an alternative and had to act like everything was fine in front of Megan. I decided we would just drive over to the brunch and take a walk on the hotel’s private beach. Megan was none the wiser to the fact that things were not going as planned but it all worked out perfectly. I found a nice private bench on the beach, and with a little coaxing Meg followed me into the “private area” of the beach. I got down on one knee and couldn’t tell you what I said but she answered the important question with a resounding YES! We had a wonderful day together at brunch and at Squaw Valley and went out to dinner to celebrate with my parents. We were off to plan our wedding and our new lives together and we are loving it.