A few weeks before the proposal, Rooster got home from work and started talking about this jeep trail that led up to a rock overlooking Lake Jocassee. I said, "that's Jumping Off Rock!" I had been telling him previously that I wanted to go get our pictures made there when we get engaged. He could not keep a straight face to save his life. At that moment I knew! I immediately texted my best friends, Kendal and Koby, and told them that I thought I knew how Rooster was going to propose. Fast forward a few weeks to my birthday, my family and I go apple picking. On the way to the apple orchard, Rooster mentions "Jumping Off Rock" again. So after we're done picking apples and are headed home, Deana, my mom, wanted to check out this rock that Rooster had been talking about. We didn't have anything better to do, and it was almost sunset. We thought the view would be really pretty at that time, so we all agreed to head up the mountain. This was Part #2 of Rooster giving himself away because he is not the adventuring type. So here we are 40 minutes in on a one lane dirt road on the side of a mountain in my parent's huge Yukon XL. We finally found this little pull off area, and we got out thinking that was the big lake overlook. A man there suggested to keep going there was an even better view up ahead. Apparently, we can't follow directions because we made a wrong turn and got way lost. Rooster insisted that we go back to the first place we stopped to take pictures. Again, not like him at all!! Once we finally get back to the first over look of the lake it was almost dark. The view was beautiful in person, but unfortunately the pictures did not capture it well. Once we got done taking pictures, Rooster got down on one knee and said, "hey one more thing, will you marry me?" Of course, we all cried happy tears after that and laughed about the adventure we went on to get there. It will definitely be something we will all remember for the rest of our lives!

Our story began the summer before my sophomore year of high school, Rooster's junior year. Both of our moms taught first grade together at Cedar Grove Elementary and Jan, Rooster's mom, tried several times to hook us up. Unfortunately, I was just not seeking a boyfriend at the time. Fast forward a couple of months, Deana, my mom, was invited to go to Rooster's older brothers wedding and asked me to be her plus one. While at the wedding, Jane Addison, another first grade teacher at Cedar Grove, insisted that we meet. She introduced us and that was all there was to it. The next morning I get a text message from this random number. Well, Rooster had spent all night texting everyone he knew that went to B-HP trying to get my phone number. We went on our first date that night, and we have been inseparable ever since!

Rooster and I really dated all summer of 2013, but he waited till the very end to officially ask me to be his girlfriend. I guess you could say we got a pretty good trial run before we made it official. He said he wanted it to be absolutely perfect, and that was his excuse for taking so long to ask. Honestly, that is just one example that shows how serious we have been about each other from the start. Anyways on to the story...one of our last date nights of the summer was on a Friday evening. We went out to eat at J Peters, one of our favorite restaurants. Then, he took me to this place called "Sugar Lake." We walked out on the dock, and as the sun was setting, he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was simple but oh so special!