We met at Nike - Bailey was the first person I saw when I entered the building for the first time. We butted heads the whole year we worked together as Bailey was inherently more qualified to be the manager of our department, and I was a terrible manager. Over time, our friendship grew, we quit our jobs, and we fell in love on a cruise ship - a vacation we booked as just friends. We have grown as partners and as people since I first met Bailey 8 years ago, we are overjoyed to begin our next chapter as husband and wife.

The signs were there. Bailey subtly dropped hints all week long that he was going to propose to me while I visited my parents at my childhood home. He drove an hour and a half "just for dinner", he hinted to what kind of outfit I should wear, and just happened to need a haircut before he made the drive. I was so convinced that everyone was in on it - I was texting my friends and scheming with my mother, begging her to spoil a secret she truthfully was not conspiring in. After dinner, we played corn hole as a family, I watched a beautiful sunset begin to take over the horizon, and I thought to myself "this is really going to happen right now". But it didn't - and I was wrong about everything. We drove home that night and I held onto my narrative until I went to sleep - but not before telling Bailey how convinced I was that today was the day he would ask me to marry him. He laughed. The next day, we ran Sunday errands together and I picked up some arts and crafts to keep me busy for the rest of the day. Bailey turned on "Knives Out" knowing the movie was long enough to hold my attention while he worked outside. -He was setting the scene- We had agreed earlier we would go out for dinner, we got ready, Bailey strongly encouraged me to change into something else - something other than black, and we decided it was time to go. But not before he showed me how great the lawn looked. What was previously a hurried attempt to get to dinner on time became a moment of peace in the comfort of our own backyard. With golden hour in full bloom, we took the time to enjoy our home, reminisce on our lives, and appreciate each other. I got up to leave and he did not - he stayed on one knee and asked me for a lifetime together. I did not see that coming - and of course I said yes. We celebrated by actually going out to dinner at my favorite restaurant and he told me he had it all planned for the day before (I was right) but he admitted the moment wasn't there, it wasn't perfect. But that day, I had made my peace that I would stop trying to ruin my own surprise. We spent time appreciating each other for the lives we have built, shared gratitude for the things we have, and our dreams for the future. The moment was there - and it was perfect.