Eric and Riley met in September of 2013 when they both began their undergraduate time at the University of Florida. On the corner of University Avenue and NW 16th Street sits the Baptist Collegiate Ministries building where they met at one of the welcome events at the beginning of their first semester.

Looking back at those first interactions, it’s a blessing to know that they were able to find each other within the 50,000 others that were surrounding them on campus. Eric studied Construction Management while Riley studied Biochemistry and not one of their classes brought them together. Riley practically took up residence at Library West and Marston Science Library and got involved in Theta Alpha Christian Sorority, while Eric spent a lot of time in RecSports Intramurals and volunteering with the Disaster Relief program.

But somehow, God found a way to always have their lives crossing paths. Memories were made with friends at Gator football games whether it was blistering hot or pouring rain so hard the game was cancelled. Eric was continually a bright part of Riley’s day when she needed a study break and they would go grab a pazookie from BJ’s Brewery or eat some chocolate and peanut butter waffles at their favorite Waffle House. They also enjoyed the roller rink where Eric shared one of his favorite past times with Riley.

Eric and Riley participated in the choir at Westside Baptist Church and spent most Wednesday nights in college with their church family which always ended with tacos at the local Moe’s. One spring night when Eric was driving Riley to rehearsal, he made the joking comment of, “Would you ever go out on a date with me?”, to which Riley responded, “Well, you’ve never asked…”

That response got Eric thinking and he decided to ask Riley out to dinner. After a few dates filled with butterflies, excitement, and their friendship they had built over the last 4 years, they decided to enter a relationship with each other.

Riley had already committed to the Orlando Campus for UF Pharmacy so only a few weeks after starting to date, she moved back down to Orlando while Eric remained in Gainesville. The next year and a half’s time was spent driving back and forth between Orlando and Gainesville as Eric and Riley’s love continued to grow. In between finishing degrees in Gainesville and starting new ones in Orlando, Eric would come down to visit for events with Riley’s new pharmacy friends, while Riley would come up for a Gator game or a Sunday lunch after church.

In December of 2018, Eric graduated from UF and was able to make the move to Orlando where he began his career with Balfour Beatty. Although Riley was busy with a doctorate program, they still found the time to finally enjoy living in the same city as each other. Whether it was dinner, bowling, movies, or Riley reading pharmacology notes to Eric on the couch, they were happy to be able to grow closer together in life.

The proposal was several months in the making. In the previous year, Eric had asked Riley’s parents what they required of him in order to take the next step with his relationship with Riley and ask her to marry him. After meticulous prayer about the weight of this oncoming decision, Eric finally was convinced that God had shown him that Riley was the one for him. He carefully gathered recon on potential ring ideas until he found the one. Knowing what he wanted to get her, Eric invited his parents, Wayne and Leassia, and Riley's mom Robin to join him on his quest. After about 2 hours he found the ring. There were tears and excited jumps of joy. Then the waiting game began.

Eric had planned to do a beach proposal at the O’Donnell family vacation location at Long Boat Key. The entire trip to the beach was a stressful time of not wanting to feign overexcitement, but also being secretly ecstatic about what was about to take place. While under the ruse of taking sunset pictures with Riley’s family and Eric’s family, Eric got down on one knee and asked Riley to marry him.

“Yes!”

Later that night when everyone had dispersed for the evening, Eric sat down with Riley and shared some letters with her that he had been writing over the past two years. As Riley read them, she got to see all the evolving feelings and love that had grown between them over the time they had been together. As she read each one, Eric aligned each of the notes to show that the first letter of each note created the message of "Will you marry me?" in French...Riley had studied the language for almost 10 years in school and had grown a passion for French culture. Eric knew this about his bride-to-be and created such a special moment for the both of them to share together. But of course, in any language, Riley's answer remained "oui"!

The next night at sunset, Riley and Eric took photos again, this time when all parties knew the new life that was in each other’s future. They spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and dreaming of all that was to come with this new adventure on the horizon. Riley and Eric loved spending time with their families and they called friends who will be standing by their side on their big day. It was a weekend to remember and the couple is so excited for all that is to come!