Hayden had been hanging out with his friends and asked if they knew of someone he could start talking to, that would hopefully lead to a relationship later on. His friend Jon Wileman gives out my name, so Hayden messages me on Instagram that same night. I didn't get the message until that morning, and when I read, "Hey do you know Jon Jon and Carrie?" I just knew it would last forever! Haha just kidding. So we began to talk for a couple days and we both made it very clear that we didn't want a relationship just yet. It was the beginning of summer and we just wanted to be with friends and focus on ourselves. Well that didn't last long because 7 days later we were dating and full of love. We just didn't want to be apart and loved talking to each other. Everyone has always told us both in life, "when you know, you just know." And we can say without a doubt that we both knew from the start.

Back story- Hayden's family all have a jacket or hat or some article of clothing that has their E brand on it. I've always wanted one but there was an exception to getting one; you have to be in the family to wear their E brand. That makes sense so I never expected one until we would get married. The Proposal- We were having his parents Christmas party at their house. After opening up presents, Hayden told me we had to go to his church down the road to get a CD for his mom. Not thinking anything of it, I grabbed my jacket and we left. He tells me that he is going to give me an early Christmas present when we get to the church because he "just remembered" it was in his trunk. We arrived at the church and he pulled up to the front doors. (It was dark outside and the church's Christmas tree was in the front so you could see all the pretty lights on it from the front doors.) He then goes to the trunk and hands me a gift bag while I'm sitting in the front seat. I opened it up and it was a jacket with the E brand! I was confused and just stared at it for a moment. Hayden then says, "Remember, there was an exception to getting one of those jackets." I turn to look at him and he is down on one knee and asks me to marry him. It was an amazing surprise and what better place to begin an engagement than the house of God? I loved every second of it and cannot wait to marry my best friend!