How We Met

The path leading up to mine and Josh’s first date was a semi long one (well it only seemed long because I had the biggest crush on him). We had been hanging out in a group of friends for about a month when I finally realized how cool he was. The first month of our friendship, Josh was really quiet and shy and it seemed like he was always falling asleep. I had just gone through a break up, and was in the mindset that I’d never find another guy, nor did I want to! It wasn’t until an amazing day at the beach, playing football and standing around at a bonfire throwing marshmallows at people that I realized how much fun he really was. It was like something inside him woke up and I was really seeing the real Josh. Too bad having a crush on him was completely pointless at this point because he had a girlfriend – a long distance one – but regardless, I’m no home wrecker. So we remained friends and I kept my distance. Unfortunately for some, and fortunately for others, Josh and his girlfriend soon broke up. We remained friends, but not for long because I had a plan.

Josh likes to play the guitar, so learning to play a song on the guitar was my plan to get him to fall in love with me. That works for other people right? In about a week I learned how to play one song on the guitar and sing along to it (and I don’t play the guitar, or sing for that matter). I won’t mention what song it was, because that is rather embarrassing, but it had significance with in the friends group. Ok it was “You’re Love is My Drug” by Ke$ha done acoustically of course. One night, I lost a bet, as I usually do, and the penalty was I had to play the song in front of the group at our camp-out the next weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous in my life, but I made it through, rather shakily. Well I’m not sure if it was the guitar playing or just my general all-around charm, but whatever it was, it worked! The next week Josh asked me out on our first official date. (Now to back this story up a bit, just so you get the full effect, after the aforementioned break-up (on my end not Josh’s) I told a roommate that the first guy to take me on a first date to get hot dogs was the guy I would marry. Sounds funny, but I love hot dogs! I’m fairly sure I could eat one for every meal. So a guy that took me to get hot dogs would have me figured out.) Now back to the original story, Josh asked me out to a local street fair and the first thing we did was eat hot dogs! And that’s when I knew…ok it took me a couple more dates to really KNOW but I was pretty convinced the night of our first date. After that we were inseparable.

The Proposal

The way Josh proposed was pretty simple, just the way I like things. We went for a walk down at Laguna Beach and he told me he wanted to show me something. I was suspicious. After what seemed like a really long walk (I was freezing), I asked if this was a trick to get me to exercise more. He assured me we were just lost. We came upon this beautifully lit up Gazebo, with rose petals all over the floor and a sign that said, “Will you marry me Kait?” He got down on one knee and told me he loved me and wanted to spend eternity with me and put the most beautiful ring on my finger. Of course I said yes!

The Engagement Session

Josh and I wanted to take our engagement pictures somewhere outdoorsy and rustic looking. Our photographer Ashley Perez suggested the Riley Wilderness park in Orange County and we just fell in love with it. I was very nervous about taking the pictures but was surprised by how comfortable I felt, mostly because Ashley and her husband Jeff kept us laughing the entire time!

For more Kaitlin + Josh photos, visit Ashley’s blog post.

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