We're getting married!

On March 27th, 2024, Jeffrey decided he was going to take me on a picnic at Cades Cove. It did not go as planned. It had rained the few days before but we were excited it was finally warm and sunny. The ground was still a little bit wet, but bearable. The entire road was closed off for “unsafe road conditions.” So instead of just heading back to the hotel and having our plans ruined, we decided to pull over outside of Cade’s Cove in a small patch of grass that had a beautiful view of the mountains. We were very hungry so it was just going to have to work. It also may have been next to a noisy highway but it was still beautiful even with a gas station right across the street. After we got settled, we were ready to picnic! The field we were in had tiny purple flowers sprinkled throughout. It honestly was just perfect. I could tell Jeffrey was nervous because he barely ate anything. If you know Jeffrey, you know he will eat anywhere and anything AND he takes his time eating to “enjoy it.” Once he quickly finished eating, he started packing the food up while I was still trying to enjoy my sandwich I had just made. I put my sandwich up because I just assumed he was ready to go. He turned to me and sat beside me as I laid down looking at the view. Then he got to where he was on both knees. In my mind I was thinking, oh no he forgot it’s only one knee once I realized what he was doing. He started to say my name over and over again trying to get my attention though I was staring right at him the entire time. I think he was just preparing himself or stalling for what he was about to say. Once I told him "Yes Jeffrey," about four times, he finally got started with his proposal. His speech was perfect. He told me that he wanted me to make him smile forever and he wanted to spend the rest of his life making me laugh. I noticed him starting to tear up and that made me tear up. Seeing him emotional at the thought of us having forever together was all of the confirmation I needed that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man. Next thing I know, he flips up his WET knee with a huge grass stain on it. He makes sure to ask me to ignore the stain. Then he says, “Haylenbear, will you marry me?” Now, it made sense why he was nervously brushing his hair over and over before he left. It also made sense why Jeffrey Bagwell ate fast for once in his life. I obviously say yes if you are reading this you see that. To congragulate us, a few jeeps from a jeep tour passed at the same exact time he got on his knee and all honked for us. Two ladies across the street at the gas station yelled “woohoo” and clapped for us. It was so sweet very simple yet such a wonderful celebration. This went down in history as the best picnic date I’ve ever been on.