Ryan and I first met in 2012 when he started attending Raymond Road Baptist Church. We were close friends, but that is not where our story together started. Ryan knew well before I did that we were going to end up together, but I finally figured it out around October of 2015. After a month and a half of spending time together and being on FaceTime pretty much non-stop, he asked me to be his girlfriend on November 12, 2015. After that we were totally smitten with one another and practically inseparable while we both finished up high school and Ryan started at Hinds. A year and a half into our relationship, the long-distance started and seemed as though it would never end. I was at Ole Miss, Ryan spent one more year at Hinds and two at Blue Mountain College, and we survived on occasional weekend visits and LOTS of hours of FaceTime. We have essentially grown up together, and it so much fun to look back on our relationship and see the many ways that the Lord worked in our lives both separately and together. We are so thankful for all of the many people that we have encountered throughout our relationship that have showed us what it looks to have a relationship that is centered around the love of Christ and how to love unconditionally. We are so excited about the life that we are going to get to build together, and eager to see the paths the Lord will lead us down.
When we left for Walt Disney World on May 7, 2021, I had no suspicions that I was going to come back home with a fiancé! Disney World has always been my most favorite place on earth, and I have so many special memories there (including Ryan's first trip!). Our engagement has officially moved to the top of the list! My family was on this trip with our best friends, the Phillips, so I just knew Ryan wasn't going to propose because his family wasn't there. Something we both felt very strongly about was having both of our families there whenever we got engaged. On May 8, 2021, we walked into the Magic Kingdom for our first day in the parks of that trip. I was about to die waiting to get on a ride, but everyone else seemed to want to just sit around and wait for our scheduled family pictures we had later that morning. I FINALLY convinced everyone to get on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, but that's the best I could do. We sat down to eat some breakfast, and Ryan and my mom went to meet our photographer. Once they got back we walked over towards the castle to start taking photos, and my family went first. We took a few pictures of my family and my sister and our friend Gracie and me, and then it was time for Ryan and I to go. We got up there, took a few pictures, and I was completely unsuspecting. About that time, he turned to face me, pulled the most beautiful ring I have ever seen out of his pocket, and dropped down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I immediately screamed, "Shut up!" which was quickly followed by an ecstatic, "YES!" Immediately after, he turned me around and showed me his family standing there! They had been hiding behind bushes waiting on us to get up there and they were able to keep me from getting suspicious but also watch the whole thing. This was by far the best day of our lives, and I cannot wait for June 11 to get here because I have no doubt it will become my new favorite day.