How We Met
Colby walked into my life at the most unexpected but perfect time. 2015 was a difficult year for me. I was in my sophomore year of college, my stress load was at an all-time high, and with stress came the anxiety. I had just walked away from a long-term relationship that I eventually realized was not in God’s plan for me. Then came 2016. A new year to start over, to find myself again, to be happy. A new relationship was definitely not on my agenda, however, God’s plan prevailed once again.
For my 20th birthday in February, my parents purchased two tickets to the Jason Aldean concert at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC. Opening up for Aldean was Thomas Rhett. My parents knew how much I adored him and his music so to make the gift even better, they surprised me with a backstage pass to meet T. Rhett and his band! On the night of the concert, I invited my friend Erica to tag along.
During the concert, I received the sweetest Facebook message from a guy whose name and face I recognized but unfortunately, did not know personally. The message read “Hey so I know I don’t know you but I always see your pictures on here and Instagram, and I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re very beautiful”. As much as I wanted to reply to the message, I couldn’t. Of course, there was no phone service in the Coliseum. My first thoughts were “Great, this guy is going to see that I read his message and he’ll think that I’m ignoring him”.
After the concert was over, I finally replied to the message and the conversation continued. Eventually, I gave him my number and after about a week or two of talking/texting, he asked me out on a date. He asked me where I wanted to go and I picked my favorite, Las Brisas! Little did I know, he wasn’t really a fan of Mexican food but he took me anyways with no complaints.
He picked me up from my house that evening and when I saw (I mean heard lol) his truck pull up, I rushed to the front door. By the time I could get to the door, he was already at the bottom of the steps. Being the respectful gentlemen he is, he wanted to make an appearance to my parents before taking me out, however, I was already nervous enough and just wanted to get to the restaurant.
We had a nice dinner. I found out quickly that our personalities were different but we had a lot in common. After dinner, he took me over to his house where I walked into a barn full of people eating a home cooked meal. In my head I was thinking “Wow, why didn’t we just eat here? Everything looks and smells amazing”! I got to meet his parents and a few family friends in which everyone was so kind and welcoming.
I’ll never forget what Colby was wearing that night. A blue plaid button up, jeans, and boots. My kind of guy :)
After spending some time at his house, he took me back home and this time, I actually let him come inside to meet my parents. LOL.
As soon as he left, my parents were already impressed as was I. We texted each other that night until we fell asleep. I was definitely considering a second date but of course, after all the heartbreak I’d experienced, a part of me was unsure.
Thankfully, I agreed to another date. Then another, and another… and here we are. Almost 3 years and still going strong. I’m so glad I agreed to be his girlfriend on April 23rd, 2016 because it was honestly the best decision I’ve ever made! I love this man more than anything! I couldn’t imagine life without him.
How They Asked
On Saturday 12/08/2018, Colby and I decided to take a trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. I had been talking about visiting there for months so Colby took it upon himself to book a trip there along with a night at the Biltmore Inn.
A chance of snow was in the forecast and I knew that on this “lucky” date, we would get to experience a beautiful snow in a beautiful place.
Sure enough, we did and it was absolutely perfect!
Before the winter weather arrived, we were able to tour the Biltmore House Saturday morning, eat lunch at a delicious restaurant called Deerpark, walk around the Antler Hill Village, have drinks at Cedric’s Tavern, and of course, check into our lovely room at the Inn.
The shuttle was able to get us from place to place quickly so that we could do as much as possible in once day.
That evening, we had plans to do the candlelight tour at the Biltmore House, wine taste at the winery, and eat dinner at a fancy place called “The Bistro”.
We arrived back at the House around 5:30 pm, in which we still had an hour and a half before our tour started. During that time, we drank some hot cocoa and walked around some shops. There was a beautiful tree out in front of the house that Colby knew I wanted to get a picture of so he suggested that we walk out there to pass the time. One we approached the tree, I snapped a picture and then proceeded to turn around and take a picture of the House considering it was even more gorgeous lit up at night. When I turned back around to face the tree, Colby was on one knee. The tears began to fall as I realized what was happening. HE WAS PROPOSING!
With the ring in his hand, he said “Lauren, I love you. I know that 8 and 12 are your lucky numbers, so on 12/08, I’m asking you “Will you marry me”?
Before he could even finish his sentence, I shook my head yes, he placed the ring on my finger and I squeezed him as tight as I possibly could. After sharing a kiss, we walked back towards the house and began sharing the big news with our family and friends.
To celebrate, we continued on with our tour and then went to dinner at the Bistro. The waitress brought us free champagne, free dessert, and surprised us at the end of dinner by telling us that our meal was covered.
We met a nice couple who sat beside us that had just gotten engaged two weeks ago. We showed each other our rings and congratulated one another.
Halfway through dinner, the power went out due to the snow storm. When we arrived back at the hotel, there was no power there either. Even though we spent the rest of the evening in the dark, I was still so blessed to be spending it with my fiancé.
Cheers to forever with my best friend! Let the planning begin!