March 12th, 2021 - After nearly 8 years together, everyone kind of assumed that a proposal was coming. I (Emily) was entering my last semester of graduate school, Alec was stable in his career, and we were getting ready to buy our first home and move back to Kansas.

Now, here's the million-dollar question - How were you not shocked, you've been together forever? Easy. It's fair to say that the last year or so before proposing, I had given Alec my fair share of hints & ideas of what I wanted, and after nearly 8 years together, I had obviously assumed that he'd be proposing sometime in the future. I just had no idea when.

I've never been someone who needed to be the center of attention, and the last thing I wanted was my proposal to be a huge production - something like that just wouldn't be "us". That being said, I always told Alec I wanted my proposal to be "a random Tuesday" rather than some big night out or flashy production. I wanted to be surprised, and I didn't want anything that would possibly make me suspicious.

He did exactly that. It was a Friday, the same day Alec had gone & got the ring, and I was on my way home from work. I called Alec like I normally would, and talked to him about what our plans were for dinner. Per usual, I was trying to convince him to go to Mexican food and get margaritas - I was told "we can talk about it when you get home". About 20 minutes later, I walked in the front door to Alec sitting in the living room, not thinking anything of it. I set my backpack and things down, and the next thing I know I was pulled into the living room and Alec was on one knee. You can go ahead and imagine the shock I was in.

It was the easiest, biggest, most confident "yes" I've ever answered to anything. Although my nails weren't done, I was in my work scrubs, and my hair was in a messy bun - that night was absolutely everything I ever wanted and more, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it.

E&A