This was our very first photo together!
The story from Diamond's point of view:An interesting thing about our story is we met a year before we started to date. I met Nathan at a party through a mutual friend. Evidently, he was my co-worker, and Nathans former high school friend. Throughout the night we had a little healthy competition going on. We were playing games so it's obvious that two competitive people trash talk. For me, that is when I noticed how attractive Nathan was. At this point, I knew I had to back up all the trash talking and show off a little. It is obvious that I won! After the game ended, Nathan did not stay for long and he left. This is typical if you know Nathan. He did end up getting my phone number and texted me the next day. We had a little conversation before Nathan stopped replying. Since I was a believer of not double texting, I let it be. Next thing you know, a year went by. Throughout the year, I would see him in the library, or he would come into the Student Account Services Office (where I work) to ask a question. It’s funny because when he would come into the office, he would have a conversation with me and act as if we had been talking all along. Even afterwards, there was no text. In April of 2015, Nathan crossed in the fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, and I decided to put my pride aside and congratulate him. After I congratulated him on crossing, he asked me on a date. That date was something special to me. At that moment, I knew he was different. We continued to get to know each other and spend a lot of time together. On June 20th, Nathan asked me to be his girlfriend. Since then, the rest has been history.
Nathan left to teach English after only 3 months of officially dating. In this picture, we survived 6 months of long-distance. Spending time to see Nathan in Spain was only one of our adventures together. Who would've known how many more adventures we would go on together.
The day we went on a sunrise hike in Bali. The thing is, to get to the mountain it was a 2-hour drive so we had to wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning to be on the shuttle by 2:30. This was after a night of going out and only getting an hour or two of sleep. The smile you see in this picture is not an actual representation of how the morning went. Sunrise was very beautiful though!
We tackled another international hike. This time, the destination is the Great Wall of China. In this picture, we got to hike to the wall and walk the old and the new part of the wall. We also got the opportunity to camp at the wall too!
Nathan finally moved back to the USA this year! After 3 years of long-distance and traveling back and forth, we were finally reunited for good. This picture was our first Thanksgiving together as a couple.
It doesn’t matter where you are going, it’s who you have beside you. That’s all that matters! We are grateful to have had so many experiences together. From going down that massive slide in Mexico, skydiving, jumping into cenotes to traveling the world with one another. These are all moments we will cherish and continue as we spend life together.
Kind of a funny story: We were supposed to jump out of the plane together. Or at least right after each other. As we were the first people to begin boarding the plane, Diamond’s skydiving instructor realized he forgot his parachute and had to run and get it quickly. Due to this, Nathan was the first one to board the plane which meant being the last one to jump and Diamond was the last one to board which meant being the first one to jump. Very scary moment for both of us! Nathan had to watch everyone drop into the air and Diamond just had to jump right off the bat. Great experience though!
When the time came to propose, I had to go all out. Diamond truly is just that: a Diamond. I had to show her just how special she is. Over the course of a few months, I asked Diamond different questions about what she wanted in a proposal. I also had some of her close friends working as double agents and gathering intel. I decided to propose at the Balboa Park Rose Garden. This was a very special place for both of us. It is where we had our most intimate talks for the first time. Over the years, it has become one of our favorite places to walk, talk, and connect. After I proposed, I then whisked her away to go on a helicopter ride. It was an experience I knew was on her bucket list. I decorated the lobby with flowers, balloons, and pictures of us throughout our relationship. During the flight, I coordinated with her family and friends to surprise us. We all took photos and rejoiced at the moment. Finally, we went to dinner and celebrated with her and both our families.