Aubrey & James
AubreyWest
&JamesWest
August312024
Watsontown, PA
Our Story
How We Met
In the early 2000s we both frequented a motorcross track in Pennsylvania with our friends. Our social circles had slight overlap, but I was a wee little middle schooler while James was the new high school “Cali Boy” with a severe allergy to clothing not exposing his 6-pack abs. No communication was ever had between us with our vast age gap as he raced the older brothers of my friends.
Fast Forward to 2016, James is in Pennsylvania again working on the pipeline and I am just starting my nursing career in the ICU. Both absurdly career driven but a once popular dating app caught us both “swiping right.” For 6 weeks pleasantries were exchanged through the app till I finally gave up my cell phone number. Then another two weeks of nightly phone calls, sometimes talking till 3am. Finally a late night first date. And it is true, James confidently initiated a first kiss as soon as he got out of his truck. James remained confident and completely unphased the rest of the night as I navigated him through the back country roads to the stables, to meet my beloved Patriot. Again James succeeded, winning Patriot’s approval (aka not getting bit, like the last guy).
The Proposal
Which One? Haha
Proposal 1: James picked me up from work after a brutal ICU shift. Drove me home, telling me how he spent the day fixing the lawnmower my landlord had yet to get to, and that he just wanted me to relax when we got back to my place and leave dinner to him. He wouldn’t let me help in the kitchen but did send me to the store for 1 onion….ONE ONION (not something I was happy about doing after my work day). But when I got back I found that he had done a lot more during the day than he let on to, and that he had transformed the neglected backyard into a candlelit oasis. After a sensational dinner in my new retreat of a backyard he proposed after just 3 weeks of dating with Axel by his side.
2018 was a year of growth for us. And with that growth James reproposed. My friends know that Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario is my absolute favorite place to escape to. And that is exactly what we did frequently as we rebuilt our relationship.
Proposal 2: After a fantastic weekend in NOTL, James took me to the nearby botanical gardens on our last evening, where we toured the grounds privately and ended in front of a shimmering reflective wall surrounded by flowers. James got down on one knee and proposed. The next day we went home only for the celebration to be continued with a surprise dinner surrounded by friends who all already knew.
Fast Forward to 2024:
After having to change our date multiple times we finally have one!
I finally get my day as we ask you all to join us for a Vow Renewal as we celebrate 7 years of marriage.
I Do! (Take two)