How We Met
Matt and I met in November 2011 in Knoxville. I lived in Johnson City, TN at the time attending college and he lived in Myrtle Beach, SC for work. We were both from the same town and went to the same high school. He was a senior in high school when I was a freshman. I remembered him from school but he was so much older we didn’t really talk. I just remembered that he skied and I liked that. I was visiting a friend of my at University of Tennessee and we attending a football game together 1 week prior to me meeting Matt. Joey was his name and he was mutual friends with Matt and I. Joey and I graduated high school the same year. This particular weekend was the football game against University of Tennessee and Middle Tennessee State. Matt attended MTSU. He was there for the game and to see Joey. Matt says he first noticed me at a bar on the strip in Knoxville called Roaming Gnome. He asked about me but his friends said I was there with Joey so he kind of backed off. Later that evening we all ended up at Joey’s apartment. We were all sitting around watching TV and talking. I mentioned how much I loved skiing and dogs. Matt was carefully listening to every word I was saying and liked it more and more. I had my chihuahua dog, Kingston, with me at the time. Kingston was sitting in my lap and chewing on a bone. Joey tried to pet Kingston and got his face very close. Kingston was not having it and proceed to bite Joey on the nose. It started bleeding and left a scar. Joey was not very interested in the dog anymore. My policy was always that if my dog didn’t like you, I didn’t like you. Matt was outside and came back in to see Joey’s nose bleeding. He asked what happened and went over to Kingston. Matt tried to pet Kingston and love on him. Kingston liked it and gave Matt kisses. I was very surprised that he warmed up to a stranger so quickly. Matt and I got to talking about our shared interest of skiing. That night I remember him asking me to marry him and I just laughed. Early January we went on our first date to Chop House. We went there every year on our dating anniversary. When we took our first ski trip together, I remember him talking while we were packing our gear in the car and said that he really likes me a lot and isn’t seeing any other girls. He continued with how he wanted to be exclusive and that turned into will you be my girlfriend. We held hands all the way home and I knew that would be our first of many wonderful ski trips. I was leaving college in June and Matt was buying a house at the time. I stayed with him all summer and never left. We have a beautiful home together and a German Shepherd dog.
how they asked
I woke up that morning with a sinus infection and a headache. I didn’t work that day so I slept in. As soon as I woke up, he got me some medicine. He left for work and I continued sleeping. As soon as he got home we went up to Ober Gatlinburg to ski. Our friend, Joey, came with us. The same Joey that I was with the night I met Matt. He is a wonderful friend of ours and we thank him for allowing Matt and I to meet. Matt thought that I would know something was up since Joey was coming us. I didn’t think anything out of the ordinary. We skied for a little while before Matt and I rode the chairlift by ourselves. On the way up he was reminiscing on our first vacation, trips to his old college town and many wonderful memories we shared. He said how much he loves me and how happy he is. He had knee surgery last year and wears a brace. He told me he needed to adjust it when we got to the top. He told me to wait for him while he fixed it. When we got to the top, a group of our friends were waiting at the top. Matt and I slid over to them and he took off his skis and popped off mine. He was standing in front of me and then got down on one knee. I kind of chuckled and said “I could tell. I had a feeling”. He smiled and continued with how happy he has been the past 4 years and couldn’t imagine his life without me. He asked me to marry him and I, of course (DUH) said yes. Everyone cheered and I gave him a big hugged. He was so nervous that he was shaking. I gave him a kiss and hugged him again. It was the most perfect day of my life. When we got down to the bottom and went up to the lodge, all of our family was waiting.
