The first time I realized that I wanted to spend my life with Abbey was back in the summer of 2019. There was not one specific moment that I can call on as a reference point. It was more like a series of realizations and feelings that built up to my decision. I knew that Abbey was not ready for that level of commitment, and her life was in a state of flux as she was looking toward grad school. So I waited.

I sat on those feelings for over a year. We finally had “the talk” in October of 2020, but we ultimately decided to wait until spring of 2022. On our 4-year anniversary in September of 2021, we looked at rings, picking out styles and details that Abbey loved. We took notes on a little index card, which I kept in my wallet for the next six months until I got the ring. I worked with a friend of Christine’s to design the ring. I knew what Abbey liked, but I had the creative freedom to put it all together. I picked up the ring in late March, but I had to sit on it for three weeks because Abbey decided it was the right time to go down to Austin.

I proposed on April 8, 2022. My plan for the night was to start at a party my graduate program was hosting for the soon-to-be-graduating second years. This gave me the excuse to dress up nice and have a fancy date night. I picked Abbey up, but she was running late (of course). I was already incredibly nervous, and this just stressed me out even more. What pushed my nerves over the edge was when she got in the car with a ring on her finger. It was just a joke, but I began to worry that she had figured everything out. We went to the party, where she was finally able to meet most of my friends in the program. But what she didn’t know was that they all knew I was going to propose. While she was talking to one group, I was on the other side of the room telling the guys about what we had planned for the evening.

We left the party and drove downtown. I made sure to keep the restaurant a surprise because we had to walk in the opposite direction to get to the proposal spot. I sneakily said that I forgot something in the car so I could go back to get the ring and let Daria know we were on the way. We started walking in toward State Street, and Abbey did the most infuriating thing. She started to ask questions. “Where are we going? Why are we going this way?” I had to keep telling her that I couldn’t say because that would ruin the surprise. She now says that she started to suspect something was going on, but I don’t believe her. I was too sneaky to give it away. We walked through Nickels Arcade (a beautiful covered walkway), and I wanted to stop for a picture. I knew that Daria, Abbey’s roommate and good friend, was waiting on the other side of the walkway behind a pillar to record everything, so I tried to get as close to her as possible. Abbey insisted that we take it far away from that end because the lighting was better. We took the picture and kept walking. Then she made us stop to look at some birds, further building my nervous anxiety. When we got closer, Abbey spotted Daria peeking out from behind the pillar. She asked what she was doing here, and I said that I asked her to come and take pictures since we looked so nice. I thought I had covered it up pretty well, but Abbey later said that she realized as soon as she saw Daria. Daria took pictures of us both, and then did solo shots of both of us. Daria took the first picture of Abbey, and I had her turn around so she could get a shot of her looking down the arcade. I got down on one knee and told her to turn around. I asked her to marry me. I didn’t get a yes until after at least 30 seconds of fawning over the ring, but she finally agreed. We posed for some pictures, thanked Daria for coming, and went to dinner. We ate at Aventura, a Spanish tapas restaurant, who very graciously brought us free glasses of champagne to celebrate. We had a beautiful evening, and capped it off by calling our families and close friends.

It was a wonderful, even if stressful, day to celebrate the start of our new life together.

Photos