The first day that I met Nathan was actually at DBU's Mr. Big Chief event. We both came with different friends but the friends we came with were dating. After the show the whole group was in a circle and even though I didn't actually talk to Nathan that night I still remember meeting him (he doesn't even remember us meeting that night at all *sigh*). We parted ways soon after that. However, I was struggling with some personal issues so a relationship with him wasn't even anywhere close to being on my radar. Luckily, the couple that brought us together decided that night that they were going to set us up on a date.

We were set up on a (kind of blind) double date by some of our best friends, Austin and Shelby Flood (they were dating at the time). And what a great date it was! We started the night out (and really our whole relationship) by eating at Chipotle. After that we drove to see the Interlochen Christmas display in Arlington and played Christmas light bingo in couple teams (Austin and Shelby won but we would have won if somebody had just put up a Snoopy decoration). We finished off the night by watching Holiday Inn in my small apartment at DBU and, finally, near the very end of the movie and the date, Nathan decided to hold my hand. I still remember the nervousness and excitement of that night, especially since neither of us had really dated anyone since high school. Neither of us had any clue that our (mostly) blind date would lead us to where we are today.

Nathan had been planning this proposal for almost 9 months. He had sneakily asked my parents, told his family, told our friends, and misdirected me from what he would be doing the day of the proposal. Everything was planned perfectly and it would've been a perfect surprise if it wasn't for some miscommunication and a few assumptions on my part. Nathan had been studying for a portion of the CPA exam for months and had told me that he was going to be taking the exam on December 5th in Waco, TX. Little did I know, that was actually the day he was planning to propose. Nathan and Shelby had planned for me to go to brunch with Shelby in Dallas and then take Christmas pictures of her and Austin. Shelby told me that she would pick me up (so that I wouldn't have my car at the proposal and could drive back with Nathan). Since Shelby and I were meeting in Dallas I assumed that she would be picking me up at Nathan's apartment instead of back-tracking all the way to my house in Burleson. Because of this, I drove to Nathan's apartment and walked in expecting Nathan to be gone at the CPA exam. As I walked in, I noticed Nathan's car was in the parking lot and that all of the Christmas decorations in his apartment were missing and his lights were on. At this point I knew something was up, but what I didn't know was that Nathan had jumped into his closet to hide from me when I came in, and he was just sitting there praying that I wouldn't see his phone charging, clothes laid out, the ring box, and the typed out proposal all laying around the apartment. God had truly shielded my eyes from these things (lol) but I still knew there was a 50-50 chance that something was happening that day. Shelby got me out of the apartment quickly and once we figured out somewhere to meet we finally made our way to brunch. After brunch, Shelby and I had decided to go check out White Rock Lake to look at picture spots (or at least that's what she told me we were doing). White Rock Lake has a walking trail that Nathan and I love visiting together. Once we got there we headed right for a dock that was my favorite and I knew would be great for pictures. When I turned the corner of the dock there was Nathan with a beautiful Christmas set up. He had laid out our Christmas blanket, hung a wreath that said merry me? on it and had our little Christmas tree behind him. By the time I walked over to him we were both shaking and went straight into a long hug. Coming out from the hug, Nathan then turned the tree to reveal ornaments that represent things from our relationship. He took out his 3 page (not a joke, it was 3 pages long) proposal speech that explained each of the ornaments on the tree and how each one of them represented reasons why he wants to marry me. After his speech, he got down on one knee and proposed to me with...a ring pop of all things *deep sigh* (I was being spunky one night talking with his brothers about when he should propose and he took the chance to get me to pinky promise I would say yes to a ring pop). I did, in fact, say yes to the ring pop, which he promptly tossed to the ground so that he could pull out a box with the most perfect ring I could've ever asked for and put that ring on my finger. Later that day, we had an engagement party with some friends and family, and the rest is history.