I had a wonderful time getting to know Krystel and Gavin. These two are madly in love and I enjoyed capturing this very special moment in their engagement. The sunset was stunning at the Coronado and it was perfectly matched for such a lovely couple. I have loved learning about their relationship and engagement story and I know you will too.
How did you meet?
We met at work (Parkview Community Hospital). I was a new grad RN and he was a transporter. We met just as most co-workers do. I was new and we casually said hi in the halls. Then he became a CNA and started working on my unit, so we worked directly with each other. We started talking to each other more, but at the time he was in a relationship with the mother of his daughter, and I was in another relationship as well. We were both in “not so great” relationships and would vent to each other and give each other advice, and eventually became pretty close friends… work-best-friends you could say. After each of our relationships ended, we continued to date other people and still come to each other to vent and give each other advice. Mind you, in between relationships, he would joke around and say we should just get together and even “proposed” to me, down on one knee, outside of the hospital, where I told him to “shut up” and “get up”. We would also joke around about how if we became roommates, we would get so fat together, because both of us LOVED to eat. During this time though, we also used to argue at work, so much so that I would go home and vent to my roommate about how much he pissed me off at work and how I couldn’t stand it when he used to be a sitter for my patients; but at the end of every shift, we would talk about it and be okay. We were more than comfortable with each other, as neither of us really had any need to impress one another. A little over 3 years later, co-workers started making comments like “you guys are so cute” and “why don’t you two just get together?” and even my best friend suggested dating him. I told her that there was no way in **** that would ever happen. Then one day, after I had bought my new AR-15, a few of us at work were talking about going shooting. When the day came to actually go shooting, we were the only two who could go, and he asked “well, do you still want to go?” After a little hesitation, I agreed to go. We had an amazing time and even went out for drinks afterwards. The next day, I had work, but he was off. He texted me and asked me if I wanted to watch a movie that night. I took a while to answer him, because it was all new and a little weird for me, but a few hours later I told myself, what the h***, and agreed to watch a movie with him. Then the rest is history and we’ve been together since.
How did he/she ask?
The day that he asked me (November 26, 2016 – the day before my birthday), he kept every location a surprise (I’m guessing at the time, for my birthday). The first place he took me was to a shooting range in Oceanside that we used to go to a lot when we first started dating. I had mentioned to him a few weeks before that I missed going shooting. After the shooting range, we came back home to get ready for dinner. He hinted at me to dress nice, nicer than our normal dates. So I joked with him and asked him if we were going to Morton’s (he knew that it was my favorite steakhouse, but we’d never been together) and asked me to stop trying to guess this one time. I’ve always joked with him about not being able to surprise me because I know him so well, and have usually been able to guess where were going. When we started heading to our reservation, he headed towards San Diego, which threw me off because I didn’t know that there was a Morton’s in San Diego. We sat down and had a lovely dinner and I had a feeling at this moment that he might ask, but he didn’t, so I figured it must all be for my birthday. When we left the restaurant, I expected us to head home since both of us are used to being in bed by 930-1000, and by this time it was close to 930. Instead, he took me to Coronado (our favorite place to get away locally). It was freezing outside, but he insisted on taking a walk on the beach, and I told him he was crazy! When we got to the middle of the beach, he turned and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Favorite thing to do together?
Going on road trips, camping, shooting, mountain biking, and fishing.
