from Wes’ Point of View

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I met Faith in the Fall of 2007, during our Freshman year at UCSB – with our love story beginning a few months soon after.

In a dorm setting, most people leave their doors open in order to meet new people and make friends. As fate would have it, both our dorm rooms were nearby. So Faith and I often ran into each other and spent time getting to know each other; also sharing a few classes and study groups.

I always looked forward to spending time with Faith, and having it under the guise of studying made it that much easier to do so! We always had a great time when we were together; whether it be during homework sessions, hanging out around campus, or with our other college friends in the dorms. Faith always brightened my day.

I’ll be the first to admit, I can be a little reserved, so making our relationship official was a bit difficult for me. Luckily, Faith’s best friend and roommate, Erin Parker, was there to help.

 

She tried to get the inside scoop regarding my feelings for Faith. And once I confided in her, Erin gave me that little extra confidence I needed and I decided that I was going to go for it!

Erin and Faith planned to head home for Thanksgiving break and I decided to tag along for the ride, since my hometown of Camarillo was on the way. When we got to my childhood home, we shared a nice dinner my mom prepared before the girls continued the drive down to San Diego.

My heart was pounding when it was time for goodbyes. I knew this was my chance to make a move, so as I walked them out I pulled Faith aside for a moment. And in that brief instant, we shared our first kiss.

We still joke about it today because it was terrible! It was barely a peck on the lips. My nerves got the better of me, but it was good enough because on that day Faith and I officially started dating.

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“[…] her unending love that she never failed to make me feel.”

For the next couple years, our relationship continued to grow. We finished out the first year in the dorms and then moved into Isla Vista, a nearby college town of UCSB . It was during this time that our love developed as we spent a lot of time together. I quickly started to learn how great of a person Faith is.

She is the kind of person who shows her excellent qualities through her actions. I saw her kindness and selflessness towards family and friends. I was in awe of her drive to achieve her goals, both in school and her personal life. And I cherished her unending love that she never failed to make me feel.

 

Our love came naturally. We clicked so well together and the only real bump in the road was when we had to spend about a year apart, as my college path took a bit of a detour and I ended up graduating after Faith.

It was difficult at times, but our commitment to each other never faded. Even though we were long distance, I never doubted that we would stay together and I couldn’t wait for the day when we could reunite and live in the same city again.

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” I couldn’t believe how many relatives she had!”

When I think of my family I think of a handful of people, however I soon learned that Faith’s family was on a different scale from what I was used to. I remember being quite taken aback when doing the meet and greets at the first few family gatherings. I couldn’t believe how many relatives she had!

While it was a bit nerve wracking at first, I was always received warm welcomes and smiles, and it made the transition into San Diego much easier. It took me several quizzes with family photos to get to remember everyone’s names, but getting exposed to such a large and extended family was something I am very thankful for. Currently, Faith and I always split up family holidays, so we get to experience both sides of the family size spectrum, and we love them both!

 

In addition to getting to meet Faith’s family, my move to San Diego allowed me to meet and get to know Faith’s hometown friends. I could tell from the first few hangouts that Faith’s friends were a very tight-knit group, everyone looked out for and supported one another. Friendship is one of the cornerstones of life, and so it was extremely important to me that I do my best to be incorporated into Faith’s hometown group of friends.

Luckily for me, Faith has great taste and it’s reflected in the people she chooses to surround herself with. I was anxious jumping into a new circle of people, but they were all incredibly welcoming. Every meet-up was filled with laughs and memorable moments. Getting a chance to hang out with everyone was something I quickly looked forward to and eventually they all grew to become some of my best friends as well.

“we always tell each other that ‘home’ is when we are together”

A few years after I moved to San Diego, Faith and I had reached a point in our relationship where we agreed it made the most sense for us to come together and purchase a place of our own. We settled into a nice condominium in Mission Valley, and while we always tell each other that “home” is when we are together, we enjoy shaping the space into our own.

I’ve known for a long time that there was nobody else in this world I’d rather spend my life with, but coming up with unique ideas for the proposal was difficult.

I eventually decided to use our anniversary as home owners as a guise for my marriage proposal to Faith. With some help from my best man, Matt Lewis, I created a plan. We’d have an intimate sunset dinner along San Diego Bay, followed by a walk along the water.

On that walk, I asked her to be my wife.

Everything went according to plan and we are ecstatic to be engaged. As we draw closer to our wedding, I can’t wait to be married to Faith. She’s my best friend, life partner and there is no one I’d rather be with.

I know this next chapter in our lives will be exciting, but we’ll just have to wait and see how the rest of our love story unfolds.