how we met
We first met in the Summer of 2015 when we began Graduate Assistantships at the University of Florida. Go Gators (Kelly is a UGA Bulldog at heart so she won’t second my Go Gator sentiments)! Our cubicles were right next to each other so we sat back to back for the two years of graduate school.
how they asked
Kelsey proposed to Kelly on December 30th, 2018. But before we get there, we need to go back in time a little bit. In November 2017, Kelsey and Kelly were living in Baton Rouge, LA and on a Sunday afternoon, Kelsey drove to Barnes & Noble and bought a pocket sized journal that literally could fit in someone’s back jean pocket. She sat down in the coffee lounge area and wrote Kelly a note outlining her plan: Kelsey would use this journal to document their next year; it would be filled with pictures, love notes, low points in their relationship and how they overcame it, and other little things. When it was time to propose, Kelsey would give her the journal and propose to Kelly – although she didn’t know exactly what the proposal would like at the time. Okay, now back to Fall 2018. Kelsey knew she had to start getting the ball rolling so with help from Kelly’s mom and best friend, Allie, a plan was put into place. Kelsey knew she wanted to propose during the holidays because she’s a sucker for the Christmas season so the time frame was going to be between Christmas and the New Year while they were in Georgia with Kelly’s family and Kelsey’s family could come down from North Carolina. The morning of the proposal, Kelsey was in North Carolina while Kelly was in Georgia. She knew Kelsey was coming down that day and was told they had plans to go to dinner with a friend who lived in Georgia. When Kelsey arrived and they were on their way to the park the proposal was happening at, Kelsey was so incredibly nervous. Kelly was going on and on about her morning with Allie and how Allie asked her, “If Kelsey proposed to you right now, would you say yes?” Immediately, Kelsey could feel herself sweating and told herself to play it cool. Half jokingly, she asked, “Well would you?” in which Kelly responded, “Of course!” and then continued on about her day. We think that little part of the conversation was funny because literally in 15 minutes, Kelsey would be proposing and that’s how little of an idea Kelly had. They finally arrived to the park, mind you, Kelly thinks they are going to dinner. Once parked, she asked what they were doing and was told Kelsey wanted to go for a walk and asked her to get out of the car. So confused and scrambling, Kelly asked if she needed her rain coat (which was hot pink) and Kelsey said no, knowing she hired a hidden photographer and Kelly would not want her hot pink rain coat in the pictures. She asked again what was happening, looked Kelsey up and down, noticing an outline of a ring box in Kelsey’s pocket. Kelsey told Kelly to just let it happen. Now really starting to freak out, asked, “Oh my gosh, but is it happening??” Again, Kelsey told her to just walk and let it happen. They walked down a path in the park, holding hands, Kelsey telling Kelly everything she’d been keeping a secret for months. When they got to the perfect spot, Kelsey pulled out the journal she’d been writing in for over a year, read the first page explaining what this journal contained, and then read last page, which ended, “I’ve written you a lifetime of love notes, now will you spend your lifetime with me?” Kelsey then got down on one knee and asked Kelly to marry her. YES!
