You didn't think I would miss out on an opportunity to talk about love, did you? If you know me, I am possibly the most hopeless romantic person you know. I could sit and talk about love all day long. I also have had lots of people ask how he proposed. So here I am, talking about my favorite topic, love. Settle in for this cheesy walk down memory lane.
How We Met
First Sight
I had just moved to UA-Fort Smith and was on the pom squad. It was my first performance as a member at Cub Camp, which is an orientation for Freshman. After, I stayed over with a couple of pom girls that lived together on campus. We were hanging out with a few of their guy friends in their living room when another guy walked in (spoiler: my fiance). He joined in and was hanging out with all of us. A little later, another girl that lived there walked in. I didn't know anyone at that time since I was new and school hadn't even started yet. It was actually his girlfriend, which is why he was in there in the first place. I remember thinking, "darn, he was cute". I didn't even catch his name at that point and never thought about it again.
After
A year later I joined a sorority and became involved in Greek Life. I became really good friends with a few guys in the Fraternity Tyler was in. We hung out a lot and guess what, one was best friends with Tyler (aka my fiance-how many times can I use that word in this post?). As I hung out with one of the guys more, I obviously saw Tyler more often (they lived together too). I thought he was really funny and seemed like fun. Like I said, I always thought he was cute, but at that point I was recently single and he was dating someone. As time went on, we both ended up single and started to chat on Snapchat. That grew to texting and then finally hanging out when I came back from camp training. It was June 7th and I somehow was not too nervous, just so excited! We had no issues talking, honestly I didn’t think he would ever shut up. We watched the Bachelor and I finally said, “I haven’t seen this episode, can you stop talking!” After, we hung out and just talked and ended up driving all around. We ended up in Lavaca (his hometown) at the car wash where he washed my car for me. I didn’t leave that night until 2 a.m. probably. I was smiling all the way home. We kept hanging out until I had to go back to camp. We hung out until the wee hours of the morning every time. We ate dinner, hiked, drove around, went to the movies, rain through sprinklers, and even had our first kiss on July 4th. I cannot remember every detail after that, but I do remember us walking outside for him to leave my house and then usually sitting on a rock for another 2 hours to talk. This became known as the infamous “like rock”. He told me one night before camp that he wanted to get serious with me while on this cheesy titled "like rock". Camp was a blast but I really missed him. We would talk on the phone as much as we could. I talked in almost all of my free time and enjoyed every moment of it. After I got back from camp, we kept dating and the rest is history. On September 4th, he took me to the drive-in movies and then took me to that “like rock” and told me how he knew all of those “like rock” chats that he wanted to be with me. After, we proceeded to take a photo shoot trying to tell the story of our relationship. Yes, I know I am so cheesy and he goes with it. We have had so many wonderful moments together. My nephew and his niece being born, all the holidays celebrated together, the trips to Eureka Springs, Dallas, the cruise to Cozumel and Costa Maya, or even New York City. Speaking of….
How He Asked
We went to New York City on vacation in March 2019 with my sister, her boyfriend, and my parents. He had told me that my sister was probably going to get engaged on the trip but that obviously I couldn't say anything. Fast forward to the second day we were there. It was March 17th, St. Patrick's Day and we went to Central Park. I remember holding hands walking into the park and Tyler saying, "is that Bow Bridge?” He was looking at a different bridge that had tons of runners on it from the marathon. Thinking back, I bet he was so stressed out when he saw all of those people. Anyways, we made our way over to Bethesda Terrace, better known as the fountain from Gossip Girl. We walked around and took some pictures. After, we walked over to Bow Bridge. As we were just about to get on the bridge, Tyler grabs my hand, which I just think 'awe he's so sweet' (because I am usually the one grabbing his hand all the time). We take about 5 steps on to the bridge and he stops and faces me. I KNOW exactly what is about to happen now. This is the moment I have been waiting for my entire life and it is here. And what do I do? BAWL MY EYES OUT, that's what! He stops and turns to me and he says, "I know we have a like rock, but I thought maybe we could make this our love bridge? How does that sound?" *insert crying too hard to say anything but nod my head and fall into his chest crying*. He then laughs and says, "I haven't even said anything to you yet.” He then precedes with, “You know I love you with all my heart, right? You're my best friend and I've been wanting to do this for a long time." He unzips his jacket, grabs the box, and gets down on one knee. *AGH, screaming still.* He says, “Will you marry me?” I cry and freak out and say “yes”, obviously. It should be noted here that the box opened up in the middle, not the typical way, so the ring ended up being presented to me sideways, which I still think is hilarious. He stands up, puts the ring on my finger and pulls me up to give him a hug. He then literally had to say, “Give me a kiss”, because I am too beside myself to think straight. Then I look at the ring and I’m just repeating “Oh my gosh, I’m dying, what? Oh my gosh, it’s so pretty” and just start jumping. We take all the pictures and then head back to the fountain again. Underneath, there is always some sort of musician playing. We stop and start dancing together which quickly turns into us crying, yes I said us. I saw Tyler get choked up. We had our own bachelor one-on-one date in Central Park dancing to a violin playing “Rewrite the Stars” from the Greatest Showman, which we sing together in the car all the time. I was on cloud nine for the rest of the trip and still look down and stare at my ring. Yes, because it is so beautiful and he could not have done better, but because the most amazing man in the world gave it to me. The man I prayed for my entire life. The one who made it all worth it.
xoxo,
Comments