We were both young, dumb, and reckless in high school. I was her first boyfriend, and she was my first serious girlfriend. But, as with most angsty and dramatic teenagers, things didn't work out in school and we split up, but remained friends. Our young adult lives took us to different schools and introduced us to different people and we NEVER expected to reconnect with each other, even as casual acquaintances. God had different things in mind though, and after 8 years of basically zero communication, we found ourselves on our (second) first date. We had a lovely dinner and went to Civil Axe Throwing to finish out the evening. Clay decided that he would try to show off a bit (shocker) and wound up slicing his hand open on one of the axes. With Taryn in her last semester of nursing school, Clay figured the situation would be under control. But, with limited tools on hand, we decided that a trip to the emergency room was needed. After 3 hours, a couple of stitches, and a few hundred dollars in ER bills, it is definitely a night we will never forget! We both quickly realized how the circumstances of our coming together was more than just a happy coincidence, but was planned and put into action by Someone that knows us much better than we know ourselves.

After we both realized that we had found the person that we want to marry, Clay set out to put into effect a surprise proposal. Taryn was dead convinced that it would happen on our anniversary, but Clay also knew that she wanted it to come out of the blue. So the Tuesday before the anniversary was the blue it came out of! Clay coordinated with family and friends to pull the whole thing off. Taryn however, was not the most flexible surprisee. She had no idea what was coming (because Clay had heavily denied that a proposal was coming anytime soon due to the fact that he was jobless at the time), and therefore did not pick up on the signs that a proposal was imminent. After getting moms and friends to take Taryn to get her nails done, after suggesting that they should both dress up to take some nice photos at a friend's house, and after some of her friends seeming a bit more aloof than normal, Taryn was curious as to what was going on. She asked many questions and everyone involved was forced to lie right through their teeth in order to cover up. At the end of the day, the surprise was pulled off flawlessly. We went to a friend's house under the ruse that we would enjoy a nice double date together. While the light was good, we all went outside to take a few pictures to give our friend the photographer a "test for some engagement shoots he was doing later that week." As you can tell from the photos, Taryn had NO idea it was coming! A few words and photos later, we broke the news that dinner was not at the friend's house, but that we had all of our closest friends and family members back at Clay's parent's house for a big celebration. Long story short, we will not be planning any surprises for Taryn anytime soon.