Will and I don't have a very romantic how-we-met story. In fact, it's quite cliche... we met at the gym :'D The year was 2014. It was March. My friend Kandace and I decided to go to the gym on a Saturday morning (what made us decide to do that, I'm still not sure). I was a college cheerleader so it was common for us to walk into the gym sporting Nike Pros and a tank. Will happened to be there, playing pick-up basketball with his dad (he has not done that on a Saturday morning since we have met). Kandace and I had just gotten there and were walking up the stairs when Will came out to get some water. He waved at Kandace and I smiled, not knowing who it was, and kept walking. Little did I know, Will watched me walk all the way up the stairs. I asked her who it was and she told me that she and Will had had a class together at Dalton State. We began our workout and not 10 minutes later, Will had texted Kandace asking who I was. I didn't think much of it, so we finished our workout and went to eat at Subway. I was sitting there eating my sandwich and my phone goes off and it is Will Clark messaging me on Facebook (Will has not been on Facebook since that day, so this was a lot of effort for him). It read "Hey girl!". Now most of the time if I did get a message from a guy, it was just "hey" or "Hey!" or even "Hey there", so I thought it was pretty funny that this guy decided to say "hey girl". I messaged back and it only took this guy 3 messages on Facebook to get my number so I guess he had pretty good game. And that is how we first came across each other and began to talk.

I first saw May at the Wellness Center in Dalton. I was shooting ball with my Dad when I noticed a good looking girl walking in with a girl that I knew. My first thought was "dang she is a looker". I honestly checked her out and was like dang I need to ask Kandace who she is. As I was walking out of the gym, I sent Kandace a text and asked her who her friend was. She told me her name was Madison Ellis, so I sent her a facebook message before I got into my car in the parking lot. My opening line was "Hey Girl", guess it worked!

Will and I talked for about a week before we decided to meet in person. Now, to be honest, I thought he was coming on a little strong... it was March and he was talking about going to Georgia games in the fall and why didn't I invite him over for a family meal at my grandmother's. I'm thinking, goodness dude we haven't even met yet. So I was a little hesitant to go on a date with him. But my mom convinced me it was just a date and if anything I’d make a new friend. So I went. We went to a frozen yogurt place called Jandy's. I pull up and he's driving a black Jeep Cherokee (Jeeps are hot) and wearing a Braves hat. We walked up and got our little fro-yos and I went to pay for mine and he goes "whoa no I got it". My heart fluttered, I had never really had a guy stop me from paying for something so he could. We talked, ate our yogurt, talked, enjoyed the weather outside, talked, went to look at his Jeep because I loved jeeps, talked some more. Before I knew it, about 4 hours had passed and I was having some major feels for this guy. He was cute, smart, and totally charming. I went home and immediately told my mom how glad I was that I went and I liked this guy a lot.

So I was excited to meet Madison for the first time. I asked her where she wanted to go, and she said Jandy's which was a yogurt place in Dalton. I pulled up and I noticed she was even better looking dressed up. We had a great time talking for a few hours. I knew when I left that I wanted to date this girl. It took me around two weeks to kiss her, which looking back was bushleague. I should have laid one on her at Jandy's. We started dating around two months later, which was the best decision that I have ever made besides asking May to marry me!

Flash-forward 4.5 years later. Will graduated from Dalton State in Accounting and got a job at Shaw and began working on his Masters degree. Madison also graduated from Dalton State and began teaching 2nd grade. Madison had moved into a small cottage and began wanting to take that "next step" soon after. However, Will didn't seem to entertain that idea... little did Madison know, he was trying to plot the perfect proposal all along. Will is not a very flashy, showy person so he was perfectly content with popping the question in the living room of the cottage. Ansley, Madison's sister, convinced him otherwise and knew Madison would love to have pictures of the proposal and have family around. Madison's mom Janet LOVED to take pictures. So she mentioned going to take pictures at Barnsley Gardens to everyone. Madison didn't think much of it, but she was really hoping something special was going to happen. Once at Barnsley, they began to walk around, looking at all the beautiful lights. Janet began to take pictures of the girls and Will hung back to look at the pictures and check the lighting, the background, etc to find the perfect spot (which by the way he NEVER does). This went on for a while and Madison was oblivious to it all. She began to get frustrated: at the cold, she was hungry, and she wanted to be proposed to at this beautiful place! She mentioned to her sister that she "thought she was getting proposed to here" and began to tear up. Ansley played it off, but immediately went to Will and said "YOU NEED TO GO NOW!" Finally, they found a spot where you could see all the lights through the ruins. Will came and stood beside Madison to take a picture. *Back up- Madison had told Will what she wanted for Christmas was a bottle of wine and the rest of the money he would have spent on a gift to be put towards a ring* As Janet takes a picture, Will turns to Madison and says "Well May, I didn't get you any wine, but will you marry me?" ALL. THE. TEARS!!