How We Met
Jer and I met at a church camp we both were working at. He tells the story very differently than I do (don’t they always?). It was a work day for the counselors to prepare for the campers to come. I had never met him before but for some reasons was super intrigued and determined to talk to him. I went out of my way all day to get a conversation going and I always got a short answer before he would walk away to talk to someone else. I couldn’t understand why this boy wouldn’t talk to me at CHURCH camp! As the day went on we were getting assigned teams for the week, Jer got put on team yellow and they asked for a girl volunteer to be with him… I volunteered so fast it was honestly embarrassing.
As time went on he finally started talking to me and we became friends. After that things happened quickly! We met on May 28th 2014 and were dating by June 20th 2014. It took a six hour talk to finally work up the courage to ask me out. If you ask Jer about the first day we met he says he knew as soon as he saw me step out of my car and heard my “country accent” but was nervous and that’s why he refused to talk to me for more than five seconds!
how they asked
Jer asked me to go on a fancy surprise date with him “just because”. This wasn’t unusual because he is actually the sweetest man and does romantic things quite often! The thing is, he isn’t good at keeping his own surprises because he gets to excited, so he requested was I wear a yellow blindfold to each destination. We get to our first spot, the movie theater. I love going and seeing movies no matter how cheesy, he picked the movie Trolls! After the movie was dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, our anniversary spot! After dinner was the last destination, it felt like we were going in circles for so long. I was convinced we were driving to Tennessee to see our favorite singers, Penny and Sparrow, because he had been playing them all day. What was actually happening was Jerry mapped out the path he was going to drive so that I wouldn’t be able to recognize where we were!! We finally get to the spot and it was the gazebo at camp where he had asked me to be his girlfriend. I was blown away. It was covered in lights, had picture frames all over, and I had finally figured out what was happening.
I immediately start crying because I couldn’t believe it and was so happy to be experiencing that moment with him. Jer walked me to the first picture frame that was covered in pictures of our friends and family, it had a note on it that said to pray for the people who have poured into our relationship. At this point we are both crying. We walk to the next frame where it is covered in pictures of all of our adventures, it had a note that said to pray for all the times we had shared together and thank God for being the center of our relationship. Finally, the last frame had no pictures but just a note that said to pray for our future together.
He then got down on one knee, had a wooden box made by my dad with J&B carved into it, and asked me to marry him.
It was the best moment of my life and I’ve never felt so much joy!
Jer and I have always said to each other “you are exactly I always prayed for and more” and then he asked me to marry him after going through a prayer walk. My parents secretly came to town and came around the corner with his and spent time with us after the proposal.
After all of that, he had letters from close friends in other states and my brother! We then drove up the hill and Jer had invited our closest friends and family to a surprise engagement party after! He. Thought. Of. Everything!!!
