You can feel the emotion and pure SHOCK through the video.. I turned around expecting 6’4’’ Ryan to be towering above me, but instead find him down on one knee with a custom designed ring in his hand. Little did I know the hours of thought and planning that went into this special moment that would change our lives forever. Fast forward 5 months earlier. Ryan somehow managed to get to my house and ask my parents permission the one weekend I was working across the country. Then the ring shopping began.. Mom took him around town to get ideas that he would eventually bring to my cousin, Allie. Allie owns a jewelry business and worked with Ryan virtually, sending renderings back and forth to create the custom ring of my dreams. With the ring in hand for months, Ryan waited for the perfect moment. To throw me off (even though I wasn’t expecting a proposal anytime soon) we planned a trip down to his hometown in Roanoke on the most random weekend. Early that Saturday morning, Ryan let me sleep in while he went to help his best friend Jeremiah with his “truck”. Little did I know that was a lie, and he was setting up the scene with Jeremiah and Alec, getting them set up with tactical gear , cami paint, and cameras. I was waiting *patiently* for him to come back so we could get breakfast. He didn’t expect to pull up and see me standing, waiting in the driveway with workout clothes on ready to jump in the truck. I dont know how, but he somehow convinced me to go back in the house and change into cute clothes for the day. All without raising any suspicions. If I could go back in time I would’ve taken up his Mother’s offer to curl my hair, but that goes to show how unsuspecting I was. We got smoothies (my fav) and casually wasted time driving around. Since we were in the area, he recommended we stop by our “spot”. It was the very spot he asked me to be his girlfriend years earlier where we carved our initials into a tree along the Roanoke River. Okay, I know what you’re thinking… “Leah that is so OBVIOUS!” But let me tell you.. he made it so casual! He was even pretending to not remember where our spot was on the trail. Until… cue the video! https://www.dropbox.com/s/b8t5rdwoabjw75c/R%26L%20Proposal.mov?dl=0