During the first year of dating, all the signs pointed to Amy being the one. Inspired by my hero Aubrey Drake Graham, I wrote a poem for our first anniversary, 14 lines, the first letter of each line spelling out “Will You Marry Me”. Amy obviously didn’t notice, giving me the chance for an epic romantic gesture…or something to joke about with my friends if it didn’t work out. Once I matched to residency in Dallas and knew my first year would be in Pennsylvania, I knew this was my opportunity to pull the ultimate surprise. In June 2020 I secured off for the weekend of the proposal March 6, 2021. I told my parents in early October of my plan, and then Amy’s parents and siblings in late October. Then told our family and friends about the plan in December. There were several lies in place to protect the plan, including sending her a fake work schedule, saying Abey was going to a wedding that weekend, among other things. The week of the proposal, the stress level was high, as several months of planning were on the line. As much as you prepare, you can’t prevent everything, big shout to a certain individual in Dallas for almost spoiling the surprise. (Now we can laugh about it lol). The day finally arrived, atop Upside West Village, rooftop of the Canopy. Every emotion ran through me that day, with the ultimate happiness coming when Amy walked through those doors. Everything I practiced saying may or may not have come out, but it was a instant in time I wouldn’t want to have happened any other way.

#BigBootyStephens

#JakeWonAGrAMY

On January 31, 2021, I received a text from my sister, Shelmy, telling me she won a photoshoot with sbt_media. My immediate thought was, “Oh wow, she won a raffle?? That’s a first!” because she always complains she never wins anything and I always do (which I can’t disagree with lol). Being as gullible as I am, I responded with the salsa dancing and flashing camera emoji’s knowing her photoshoot really meant my photoshoot haha! She told me she planned to schedule it for March 6th since she was already planning to come home from New York for “Spring Break” so I set the date on my calendar.

Now fast forward a Texas winter storm and state wide power outage later, Jake came to Dallas on February 26th to visit me. Since I knew he was going to move to Dallas for residency in June, I decided to plan a surprise kickback for him with a few of our friends who had recently moved into town. Of course we had a great time, but I’m sure Jake was holding his breath the entire night knowing everyone at the party knew we were getting engaged the next week. Everyone even managed to talk about the proposal every time I turned around, but of course, I didn’t suspect a thing! The next day I decided to do a brunch with my girls and Jake. I asked them in advance whether they were in the mood for a regular brunch with good food or a boozy brunch. Everyone quickly responded choosing a regular brunch with no drinking! Looking back at it all, it all makes sense. The girls only needed one drink before they would start crying and ruin my proposal haha! After brunch, we all just hung out for hours before my friend, Benita, said she needed to leave to go get her nails done. She asked us all to join, and of course everyone except me got their nails done that day!

The week of the proposal, I received a text from a church member on Thursday after work saying, “congratulations Amy…” I was so confused regarding the text but tried to remain polite by saying “thank you but congratulations on what?” He responded saying, “I heard u also MSW like me” and of course I had a sassy response saying, “Oh yeah! I’ve been a LMSW for 4 years now actually haha happy social work month to you as well!” Of course again, I’m so gullible and didn’t think twice about it unknowingly saving my own proposal. On Friday night, my dad asked me TWICE if I wanted to go with him and my mom to Baby Aaduparayil’s house. I worked 6 days that week so I was exhausted and declined the offer. Little did I know they actually went out to dinner with Jake’s family that evening so my dad was relieved to hear me say no… TWICE. My brother, Abey, also left to Austin, TX, Friday evening as well. He told me he was going to a college friend’s wedding. Of course nothing to question there; Abey goes to a wedding nationwide on a weekly basis. So I was left home alone that evening and ironically I decided to watch The Big Day on Netflix. Eventually, I got tired and could no longer stay up waiting for my sister to land in Dallas. I texted her I was going to bed and I would see her the next morning. She responded, “No worries sistaaaa. Get yo beauty rest. See yah tomorrow!” as she actively hung out all night long with all our cousins who flew in with her.

The morning of the photoshoot, Saturday, March 6th, 2021, I woke up excited to see my sister. My dad walked into my room and gave me a big hug as I got out of bed. I didn’t question it because I thought he was just trying to make Shelmy jealous. As Shelmy and I were actively getting ready, my parents were getting ready as well to go to Lijo Matchanickal 40th surprise birthday party. We helped our parents get dressed and sent them off. Then around noon, we rushed out the house to go to the photoshoot. As I was driving to the location, Shelmy kept trying to take selfies of us and eventually I got annoyed telling her I needed to focus on the road reassuring her we are about to go into an actual photoshoot so we’ll get some pictures LOL Shelmy also played sappy love music specifically I Do by Aloe Blacc, which I ACTUALLY noticed, but I asked her whether she was going through something LOL She quickly responded saying “NO! My bad, I didn’t even realize that haha this was just a good song on The Bachelor…” and quickly changed the music genre. The music got me in my feels and I told her that I’d be cool with her ordering a bunch of outfits for my future proposal like she had done for the photoshoot. She smiled and said “mhmm yeahh.” Then we arrived to the hotel so I quickly parked, not noticing I parked next to my parents car. As we arrived to the lobby we met up with the photographer and videographer. The videographer said he’d go to the rooftop to confirm the area is clear for the shoot, so we waited downstairs and squeezed in a couple of snaps. As we got to the rooftop, I walked into the lounge and quickly saw my parents sitting at a couple of bar stools from afar, staring at the entryway. I quickly walked out and told my sister “You put the wrong address in!! We’re at the surprise party!!” She dismissed me and told me to go in. Then as I tried to walk in the second time, I noticed Jake’s parents! Again, I went backward and thought to myself, “Dang they flew into Dallas for the first time for Lijo’s birthday and didn’t feel the need to tell me they’re in town???” Then I entered the third time and I saw my brother, and in that moment I FINALLY understood what was happening, realizing now this is not about Lijo but instead me! As I entered the room, I was in full blown tears with my heart beating a 100 miles an hour as I walked toward Jake. Jake took me down memory lane starting with our first interaction to the most recent. Jake picked up the enlarged version of the poem he wrote to me after our one year dating anniversary. I re-read the poem and he told me there was a story behind the poem. He told me he knew early in our relationship I was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, so he told me to read the first letter of the 14 lines downward. As I read the 14 letters downward, my heart nearly exploded as I read “WILL YOU MARRY ME.” I could not believe it. I occasionally would re-read that poem but never noticed that! He then of course blamed me for being the reason we’re still not married yet, saying he’s been waiting 4 years for my response. He then got down on one knee, said a bunch of sweet things (which I could not process in real time), and asked me to be his wife. Of course, that was the easiest yes of my life. We then walked back into the lounge, only to see all our friends and family who traveled from near and far to celebrate our love. At this point my heart was on overload with all the love being shown our way, I just could not stop crying. Everyone just laughed, cried, celebrated, and drank the night away!

March 6th, 2021 will be a day we will never forget, but we cannot wait for September 4, 2022 as we become one!