The proposal:

On November 11, 2023, Brett & I ran the Richmond marathon together. I didn’t really want him to run with me at first because if he is with me i knew id talk a lot & tire myself out. So i told him he could run with me under the condition I wouldn’t talk to him & he had to shush me any time id start. (If you have literally ever ran with me you know i will talk the whole time- i get on my own nerves). anyway, i talked the entire 4:16 minutes & honestly had just about the best morning of my whole life 😂.

Later that evening, we were going to a fancy dinner in Richmond (brett loves a date night). He took me on a detour & i whined because i was sore. He said he wanted to take a picture of the capitol building? I followed him begrudgingly until i realized what was happening. He triedddd to get down on one knee, but was also sore from the marathon 😂 It truly turned out to be the best day of my life thus far.

Truly the best human i have ever met, and I am so so excited to marry him!

Cari described our meeting very well! However, looking back now, would it really have been that crazy to go to an ETSU tailgate with my parents? 🤔 Okay, maybe a little forward, but after we talked for hours in Gypsy’s parking lot the first night, I knew we had a special connection and I never doubted it. Since that day we have been best friends. We do everything together and are always interested in trying new hobbies and activities. Cari has the ability to make everything fascinating and exciting! When she first told me about birdwatching, I was not aware this was something people did for fun - fast forward to now it is one of our favorite shared hobbies (she is sandbagging, she is still far better at it than me). It truly does not matter what we are doing or where we are, my favorite moments are the ones spent with her ❤️.

It was not long after I picked up the engagement ring that I knew I had to plan the engagement quickly. I am not a good at keeping things from Cari. I knew it was a race against my own poor poker face. I thought if I could find the perfect spot in Richmond I would do it that weekend. Having never visited Richmond, I searched online for days for potential spots in downtown Richmond before I finally landed on the ideal location. There is a canal with an open atrium with giant beautiful murals on it. It was perfect: right before dinner we go on a romantic walk along the river, follow the canal walkway, happen upon the atrium walls of murals, ask the question, and hope she says something like “Sure, I guess that wouldn’t be too bad.”

Back to my inability to keep things from Cari, on the drive up to Richmond, she asked if I packed the ring? To be fair, this was a joke we made often by this point, almost every time we travelled outside of Kingsport. However, since this time I really did, I made some awful attempt to laugh it off that I am sure raised her suspicion level. Good thing I was doing it that weekend because I would not have survived another trip without totally ruining the surprise

Cari ended up having a fantastic marathon! We talked the whole time, even though she kept saying she would not. It really could not have gone better (except I think I was holding her back because turns out she was way better prepared for 26.2 miles than I was). The race ended on a little island just in between downtown and the river where we had food and drinks and slowly crippled around. To navigate out, we took Google’s walking directions. Once we got a little further away from the island, I saw a nice, scenic canal next to the path we were on. Before I knew it, I saw this big open-air atrium right where we were heading 🫠. To top it all off, there was a street performer playing the violin in the middle of the atrium. It was literally perfect, except for the fact I was not prepared for it and did not have the ring. There was no way I could figure out a believable story to get her to walk here to see it again before dinner (we were already having plenty of trouble walking).

I decided my best bet was to walk through the state capitol building park, which was right on the way to dinner, so it would be natural and not obvious. On our way there, the road and sidewalk leading to the park was torn up and closed for construction. The Google walking directions re-routed us around the park, another plan foiled. However, at that point I was so committed and so anxious I asked her to make a detour through the park for a picture of the capitol building light up at night. A very out-of-character request from me, so it was probably a little too obvious what was happening. I think I blacked out during the proposal from nerves, but I do remember it was a true struggle get down on one knee and I did require assistance getting back up. However, the most important part of the proposal is the answer, and I was lucky enough to get a yes!

I am incredibly thankful to be marrying my best friend and could not be more exciting for the rest of our lives together ❤️.