So I'm someone who definitely likes to have a lot of control over situations so everyone knew that planning a proposal without me finding out was going to be quite the feat, but luckily, Garrett was up for the challenge.
Garrett was leaving to work for Disney Cruise Lines for 7 months. In an effort to kind of wrap up the summer, we planned a trip to Austin for the weekend before he left. We had planned to stop in Waco on our way to Austin just to say hello to our friends in the Baylor theatre department.
Garrett and I talk about everything so I knew it might be coming but had no idea if it was going to be before he left or not. Our friends played key roles in throwing me off but the Oscar truly goes to my mother who, when I mentioned getting married, she said “Oh honey, I highly doubt that’ll happen soon” (even though Garrett had already asked for their blessing weeks before). Nevertheless, that whole week I just tried to enjoy my last few days with him and not worry about a proposal.
When we got to Baylor on September 21, Garrett and I spent the whole day together, which now looking back is hilarious, but at the time was full of awkward tension. Little things would throw me off and then get my hopes up and then finally, I was pretty positive it was going to happen sometime that day. He knew I knew and it was just a little weird.
Finally, he took me back into the theatre and up to the roof. This is my favorite place on all of Baylor's campus. The day we graduated, us and a few of our dearest friends woke up at 5:30 am just to see the sun rise on a new chapter of our lives together. I hold this place so near to my heart. The minute I climbed out of the stairwell all the tension and awkwardness just melted away. He held my hand and led me down a path of sunflowers (my favorites) and candles with a wall of all the quotes from books and movies that we both love or that he had recited to me over the years. He even had pictures he had sneakily taken of me over the past four years. When we got to the end, he sat me on a stool and read the love chapter (1 Corinthians 13) to me and then read me a letter (Garrett wrote me letters all throughout college, even when we weren't dating) but got too emotional to finish (I've seen this man cry maybe 3 times since I've known him). Then as he was about to get down on one knee, he said "Do you want the moon, Meredith? If you want the moon, I'll get it for you. I'll throw a big ol' lasso around it and bring it down here for you" (from It's a Wonderful Life, a quote that's been a big part of our relationship). Then he got down on one knee, asked me to be his wife and I've never made an easier decision in my life.
However, the surprises STILL weren't over. He knew how important it was to me that my family and some of our closest friends were around, so he took me to the suspension bridge where they were all waiting and this just made the day the most perfect. I could not be more thrilled to marry this man and start our lives together.

The day started with me driving four hours from Waco to Graham so that Meredith would have the illusion that I had not spent the day before preparing everything that was needed for the proposal. Together with Bailey, Leah Beth and our friend Hannah (who took the lovely photos of the proposal) we were able to get the rooftop of our college theater building set up with a trail of candles, sunflowers, framed photos and quotes. All of these things hold special meaning to Meredith and me. Her favorite flowers, our favorite memories, these are the objects that tell our story.

As Meredith explained, the roof was where we watched the sunrise on the day we graduated, so I figured it'd be poetic to start our new lives where we had book-ended the old one. The location was important to both of us, and the building itself held so many memories of us as individuals and as a couple, that there was no better option.

Anyone who has ever had to buy Meredith a gift knows that her love language is candles. I've never met someone who loves them more. She always has multiple burning in her room at any given time. Candles were a must.

When I was a kid, we lived in Kansas for a time and I remember riding the bus past a large field of sunflowers on our way to school every morning. At the age of 6, I was blissfully unaware of the prominent role that simple flower would come to mean in my life. Now I see that those early morning commutes were the closest thing to a sign from God I've ever received. Turns out, Meredith loves Sunflowers, and I love her, so I think He knew what He was doing.

Words have a special place in our relationship. I've kept every letter she's ever written to me, and I carry them in my backpack so that they're with me wherever I go. She's held onto the letters I've written her. It's what we do.

All of these things I've described hold a dear place in our hearts, and are a different part of who we are. It was important to me to illustrate to Meredith the way I felt about her, about us, and about the life I want to build with her. These objects served the purpose to tell that story and we will always cherish them. But more importantly, I cherish her, she cherishes me.