When I decided it was time to ask the question I had no clue what I was doing, I went to 7 jewelry stores until I found the right one. It was like pulling hair to get Alex to give me a glimpse of what kind of rings she liked. She isn’t much of a jewelry girl so I never knew what ring she liked and I didn’t want to be too obvious. I finally found a jeweler that worked with me and actually provided me the opportunity to design the ring myself. I spent three months going into the jewelers, sending emails, and making corrections to the ring so it came out perfect.

When the time came we were planning a Christmas trip for both of our families to get together and I thought this would be the perfect time to pop the question. I FaceTimed Alex’s parents to ask for their blessing as well as let them in on the idea.

Now a proposal can’t happen without a couple roadblocks. The first being that I ended up having to get shoulder surgery for a torn labrum right before Christmas, and it lined up so I was proposing 3 days after the surgery. The next issue was that it was BLISTERING COLD... record breaking cold in the state of Georgia. It was so cold that our cabin lost power and there were buildings that had their pipes bursting. Originally I was going to ask on a hike since we were staying in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but that simply wasn’t possible.

My family managed to get to the cabin before we did and my dad gave me a call to tell me that they found a great spot right by the cabin that he could set up some lights and decorations. Once Alex and I arrived, per tradition, Alex and my mom went out to get groceries for our stay. During this time my dad and brother walked me through the setup and we planned what I would do. The lights were set up to turn on once it got dark out and the area would light up in the night to get her attention, Alex is not one to pass up on checking out some random Christmas lights.

Everything went as planned, Alex knew nothing, the lights turned on, everything was according to plan. It took Alex a while to see the lights but eventually she saw them and I said “let's go take a look”. But, I didn’t prepare for the most random, out of nowhere, issue… Alex didn’t want to go see the lights! Five years, moments where I had to stop her from jumping over peoples fences to get closer to the lights, have I ever seen her turn down seeing Christmas lights. Her reason was that it was too cold and she didn’t want to go outside.

I eventually convinced her that Jasper had to go potty and that we needed to go out. We walked around and it reminded me of the moment in Detroit at the Noel Fest. It was a dog that got me the opportunity to get to know Alex better and it was a dog that gave me the opportunity to propose, everything felt right. We made our way down to the lights and at this point I think she knew something was up. She ran forward as I slowed down to get ready. She found the little Christmas tree and present and I told her to open it. Everything went perfect, as she opened she turned around to see me on one knee. I will never forget the way she said “yes” for as long as I live.