The Story

Billi Walker

Billi was born and raised in Maryville, Missouri, a small town in the northwest corner of the state. She came to California in 2002 to attend Pepperdine University. After graduating in 2006, Billi moved back to Missouri for two years, working for various schools in the area. This work helped her realize her love for working with children, a major switch from her work as an International Management major at Pepperdine. She began applying for graduate programs in the field of Clinical Psychology, which brought her back to California and Pepperdine in the fall of 2008. She will graduate from Pepperdine in 2011 with a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy and wants to continue her work as a therapist for children and their families.

Kurtis Shaner

Kurtis was born and raised in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, far from the potato farms of southern Idaho (he would like to make this point very clear ;) ). He came to California in 2002 to attend Pepperdine University. After graduating in 2006 with a major in Integrated Media (he loves the fact that they let him get away with making up his own, albeit useful, major), Kurtis moved to Seattle in the fall of the same year where his parents had recently moved. He spent nine months there before he moved back to California in 2007 to work at Nero, Inc. as a web designer.

How We Met

Having attended Pepperdine at the same time and given that Pepperdine is such a small school, you would think Kurtis and Billi would have known each other at that time. We had many mutual friends, were in a club together, and were in the same Calculus class our first semester of freshman year. As fate would have it, though, we wouldn’t really “meet” each other until Billi moved back to California in 2008.

We were celebrating a friend’s birthday on December 12, 2008, when Kurtis decided to introduce himself to this girl he knew of because of Pepperdine but never really met. Billi decided to win him over by insulting his beer of choice, pointing out that her Guinness was “much darker” than his Newcastle, making her beer of choice obviously superior. Luckily, Kurtis was humored rather than offended by her remark and continued to talk to her throughout the night. At In-N-Out later that evening, Kurtis pointed out to Billi that he didn’t have her number (“No duh,” she thought, “because I never gave it to you” :)), and she gladly passed it on.

We met again for dinner with friends the next week and got to know each other better. Kurtis entertained Billi on her 35 hour train ride back to Missouri for Christmas that year via text messages and phone calls, and the two continued to talk to each other throughout the holidays. During that week, Kurtis’s brother Austin pointed out that he was texting Billi more than Austin did to all of his friends combined (which is a lot) and Billi’s mom asked her every morning if she stayed up until 3 AM yet again talking to this guy Kurtis. This was a pretty good sign of things to come!

We decided to meet for sushi the day Billi got back from Missouri and went on an official date to California Pizza Kitchen two days later. We “officially” started dating two weeks later!

How We Got Engaged

On September 26, 2009, we headed to Catalina Island, the first time either of us had been there despite how many years we have lived in Los Angeles. We decided to take our bikes with us in hopes of riding around the island and spending the day at the beach. Once we arrived we realized we could only ride around about a half mile area, but we found ways of making our own fun. We found a place to play miniature golf and ate as much food as we could (the way we typically pass time :)). As the sun was going down, we headed toward the Casino where a large group of divers was departing and coming back in. It was very romantic except for the air compressor in the background! Kurtis said he wanted a quiet place to just sit, so we headed back to the other end of the beach, a rocky area called Lover’s Cove.

We had been there earlier in the day and many people were there snorkeling, but since it was now high tide, we found the walkway completely covered and only a few rocks to sit on, but we were alone and it was quiet so we decided to try our luck. As soon as we sat down, a huge wave crashed against the rocks and soaked us! After grabbing for the backpack that the ring was in to prevent it from being washed out to sea, Kurtis decided he should go ahead and ask before that happened to us again. Billi said, “Of course, yes!” and we began calling family and friends soon after to share the happy news!