How We Met
Andrew and I are high school sweet hearts and have been together for quite some time. First, I need to give a little history so you can fully appreciate the proposal.
We officially met when we were 15 although we had known of each other for quite some time before that. We were both homeschooled and every year a large group of families from our homeschool group would go camping at a local state park, Tickfaw State Park. This campout was something we all literally counted down the days for each year. Well, think back to November 17, 2011. This was the first day that we met. We were at our annual campout at Tickfaw State Park, and little did we know that this year’s campout would be special but for a different reason.
Andrew and I were both a little shy and, to be honest, a little awkward around each other too. I had known who Andrew was, as we had grown up around each other, although we had never spoken. As the weekend went on, I remember telling my best friend Maggie “That Andrew guy is kinda cute!” From that moment on, Maggie did what any other 15 year old girl would do – she would force me to talk to him and took any opportunity to literally push me into him to get him to notice me. Long story short, Andrew ended up getting my phone number that weekend through a mutual friend.
Fast forward about 6 months, May 4th to be exact. We were at the movies seeing The Avengers with a group of friends. Andrew was late (way to go Andrew), and I was upset because I didn’t think I’d get to sit next to him. Thankfully, our friend Jacob was sitting next to me and switched seats with Andrew once he finally got there. Props to Jacob for doing that, because during the movie Andrew finally held my hand. This was the push Andrew needed and I had been anxiously awaiting, because the following day it was made official. (Yes, we started dating on Cinco de Mayo). And from there it’s all history! We have gone back to Tickfaw every year since we met. TIckfaw is even where we shared our first kiss!
how they asked
Fast forward another 5 and a half years or so to November 4, 2017. I had been wanting to “do something fun” and had been bugging Andrew about it for a couple weekends. Well, on the weekend of November 4, Andrew took the opportunity and surprised me with a day trip to our beloved Tickfaw State Park. Side note: Andrew took this picture of me right before he popped the question.
Andrew is the quiet and reserved one of our relationship. I’m the loud one who does a lot of the talking – we balance each other. So an intimate, private proposal perfectly suits our relationship. He wanted it to be a special moment just between the two of us. So anyways, on that Saturday we packed lunch and had a picnic right before we went on a hike. Andrew seemed quiet and didn’t say a whole lot throughout the hike – it was mainly me who did all the talking (which isn’t abnormal because I talk a lot, but he seemed quieter than normal). We ended up at the suspension bridge where many laughs and memories were made during middle and high school with all of our friends.
Andrew set up his camera to take a picture of us (which he does frequently when we go places, so I didn’t think anything of it). We never actually took the picture though, because he proceeded to get down on one knee and ask the question I had been waiting to hear since May 5, 2012. Once the crying and nervous shaking had passed, the reality set in that we had grown so much from the nervous little 15 year olds to now soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs.
