After being together for such a long time, marriage was not something we took lightly and was frequently talked about between us. I can remember being 17 and counting down the days until we hit our one year anniversary because Will told me he would marry the girl he made it to a year with. Man did I want to be that girl. Thinking of being his wife made my heart drop and even more so the older we got. I knew it was important for Will to have a job secured before he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He takes so much pride in being able to take care of me and expressed how he could never make a promise to my parents without knowing he could take on the responsibility financially. God answered so many prayers about our future when Will was offered a job at Suntrust in Atlanta. It was his first choice and the location was right next to my first choice for occupational therapy school. I knew this big news also meant our lives were beginning to unfold and the idea of building a life together actually had a backbone.

Will finished his summer internship and came home to Perry to celebrate my birthday with family. The whole week prior I had built up the thought that a proposal may be soon but the idea of it being the coming up weekend seemed impossible. Will's parents live in Alabama and I knew he wouldn't ask such a big question without our whole family there. On Saturday Will kept insisting we go to a nice dinner at our favorite Macon restaurant. I truly did not feel like going after just going to dinner the night before and was pretty convinced it was going to be a "hair up" kind of night. I ended up changing my mind last minute and thank the Lord I did. There is a little spot we always used to go to before dates in high school so it wasn't out of the ordinary that Will wanted to take me there on this night, however, our reservation time was coming in hot and I am not someone who loves being late. Despite my frustration, he pulled into Houston Lake. He looked at me and told me that we should get out. I am not one for attention so getting out all dressed up with people around did not sound like the best idea to me. He gave me a look and for a spilt second I thought, "wait, this could be it". I scanned for photographers (silly, I know), but didn't see any or our family so I then again brushed the idea from my mind. The moment we walked onto the dock he looked at me and asked if he could pray with me. I instantly knew that this was our moment. I hate to say it, but I absolutely blacked out after that. I couldn't recite what he said to me if someone was going to pay me to. All I know is that the most perfect man I have ever met asked me to marry him and I said yes. After the proposal, we met our whole family back at my Aunt's house to celebrate. It was the most special time to share with some of our favorite people. We eventually made it to our favorite restaurant where Will had rented out a private room for our immediate family to enjoy together. It was absolutely perfect.