Camille: On June 3, 2024, Eric sent me a random text message. Our first conversations slingshotted between getting to know each other, talking about our different philosophies and cultures and how close they were to our hearts.

As the days went by, Eric still dragged his feet when it came to asking me out. Rather than allowing him to continue to take his sweet time, I asked if he would like to grab dinner at Anchos Southwest Grill and Bar. On June 14, 2024, we went out on our first date. As I had been the one to ask him out, when our waitress came by with the check, despite his protests insisting that we at least split it, I paid the bill.

Eric: This date that we are getting married is actually not a randomly chosen week day, believe it or not. 3 years ago on this date, as Camille had been the one to ask me out, I asked her to be my girlfriend. Well....more specifically I believe I asked her to be my vice president as our now-president had only a few hours prior asked JD Vance.

In all fairness, she had been dropping some pretty obvious hints haha. You should have heard her in the months leading up to January 1, 2026. :)

Camille: All right! So we have managed to tolerate each other for a year at this point...

Eric: Hey!!! I had always thought that I would need to be with my future wife for 2 years before I would be comfortable even thinking about the possibility of marriage. The truth is...I believe it was around this time that I spoke with my parents on the phone. It was in this conversation that my mom challenged my previous line of thinking and asked if "I could ever imagine myself with anyone else?" I honestly could not at that point...it was around this time that we started talking seriously about tying the knot. By talking seriously, I mean Camille said she'd like to be engaged before she turned 30...

Camille: When you find your person...the person that you could not imagine yourself with anyone else....you should be together for an amount of time that feels right for you. There is no time requirement.

Eric: I told Camille we would be engaged by the time she turned 30, but that's all I told her, though knowing that did not stop her guessing the timing of the proposal. As we had been planning to spend New Years in New York, when she guessed I would propose in New York, I lied and told her that I would be proposing in California.

Camille: I believed him at first...but then on New Year's day Eric drove me to a small park that he had always wanted to take a prom date. During our small walk around the park, we approached a gazebo next to the ocean. Walking up the gazebo, out of the corner of my eye I saw Eric reach into his pocket and get down on one knee...

Eric: Would you believe it if I told you her first response wasn't even "yes", but "about time"?

Camille: To be fair...he had told pretty much everyone except me what his plan to propose was...including but not limited to naming his groomsmen. All I knew before we started walking up the gazebo was it would happen before I turned 30...

Not to worry. My "about time" was quickly followed by "yes." :)