How We Met
Nick and I officially met in August 2010 when he sat in front of me in our freshman Psychology class at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It was an 8 am class, so lord knows I was in no mood to talk to anyone, but I always sat right behind him in hopes that he would talk to me. Well, when the day came that he finally did talk to me, it wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for. I was wearing a t-shirt from a past volleyball tournament that was apparently at his high school, so he said, “You didn’t go to Father Ryan – I know everyone there and I don’t know you.” RUDE. Needless to say, I considered that to be the last time we would speak.
In January 2011, the week we arrived back to school for the next semester, there was a blizzard that closed school for the entire week. I spent a lot of time at my friends Jamie and Lucy’s dorm that week, and one night we were all getting ready to go to a party when a group of people walked in – including Nick. We spent that entire night together talking and dancing, and hit it off from there. We’ve been inseparable ever since!
how they asked
As far as I knew, October 7, 2016, was just another Friday at work. My little brother’s fall break started that weekend, so my family, Nick, and I were going to be traveling to the beach for the weekend – or so I thought. Nick had also lead me to believe that we would be going to a work party before we left for the beach, and told me that it was a nicer occasion, so my typical Friday work attire of jeans and shirt wouldn’t cut it. I wasn’t happy about having to dress up on my casual day, but thinking of the beach got me through it. Throughout the day, I was checking the weather to make sure the weekend would be nice and dreaming of all of the amazing seafood I would be eating.
As I was about to get in my car to leave, I noticed a box with a bow wrapped around it on my windshield and was instantly confused. I didn’t have any recently engaged friends that might be asking me to be a bridesmaid and it definitely wasn’t my birthday, but once I opened the box and found a letter marked #1 along with Nick’s stationary inside, I knew exactly what was happening and instantly burst out crying. Next thing I know, Nick’s brother Mitchell comes running out of nowhere and takes me to his car – the scavenger hunt had begun. The first clue took me to where we went on our very first “official” date on March 5, 2011, and where we’ve been on thousands of dates since, Big River Downtown. When I arrived I was shocked to find my family and Nick’s family waiting with another clue.
After drying my happy tears, I read the next clue which would take me to the UTC sign in the center of campus, a sign we walked by together countless times in our years as students at UTC. I was so incredibly happy to be back on this campus, as it was the place that brought us together and where so many of our greatest memories took place. I didn’t know if this was where Nick would be, or what to expect when I arrived there, but I was shocked to find two of our best friends, Neil and Jessi, there waiting. And I was EVEN more shocked to see that my best friend Jamie, who now lives in San Diego, California, was waiting behind the sign with the next clue! I hadn’t seen her in almost a year and was not expecting to see her until November!
After calming down and reading the clue, with a little help from our friends I realized Nick would be waiting at Point Park – a beautiful Civil War battle site at the top of Lookout Mountain that has beyond amazing views of the city. Once I arrived, everything is blurry from the excitement and overwhelming emotions I was feeling, but the main thing I remember is that I could not stop crying and kept asking him what was going on!
Even though I knew what was going on and had been waiting for this moment for almost 6 years, I was in no way prepared for what was about to happen. I don’t even remember what exactly he said in the moment other than asking me to marry him – which he still says I never answered even though I thought I basically screamed YES!
October 7, 2016 was a whirlwind of emotions! Even though we didn’t end up going to the beach, getting engaged made up for it! I couldn’t have been more surprised by the entire thing and had no idea that Nick had apparently been planning this proposal for the last 8 months. I consider myself a detective and have constantly bragged about how he could never pull something over on me, but boy was I WRONG. ALL of our family, friends, coworkers, and even our kickball team knew about his plan and I had absolutely no idea. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who took part in this and helped plan, everyone that couldn’t be there, and even those that knew and didn’t let it slip to me. I am still in so much shock, but I am beyond excited to finally marry Nick!
