It was Move-In Day at USC in August 2012. Tracy was roaming the halls of the Honors Dorm with her new roommate and best friend, Bailey Wilhelm, "looking for a screwdriver" while secretly scouting the talent the dorm had to offer. John was similarly roaming the halls with his new roommate and best friend, John Metz, and as fate would have it, had a screwdriver the girls could use. After the encounter, Tracy told Bailey that one day she was going to marry John Clark. Tracy and John quickly became best friends and eventually proved their speculative friends correct when John asked Tracy to be his girlfriend in Myrtle Beach during Fall Break of Sophomore year. Four years and many Moe's Mondays later, John fulfilled Tracy's prophecy and asked his best friend to marry him. Spoiler alert, she said "YES!"

The night I ordered Tracy's ring, I called up our closest friends and asked if they would help me pull off the best surprise I'll ever plan for Tracy. Tracy and I would be joining my family at Grandfather Mountain near Boone, North Carolina "to celebrate Christmas", on the peak of which I would get down on one knee and ask Tracy to marry me; our friends would be waiting on the mountain to give my newly engaged fiancé her second surprise that day. As the countdown to the big day grew shorter, it became clear that the weather was intent on changing up plans. An unseasonably early snowstorm was bearing down on the Carolinas, which would require a heavy dose of flexibility and coordination among the 20 or so people coming into town, from places as far away as Houston, Boston, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, and New York. Somehow the secret was never spilled to Tracy in that month from any of her friends (or her anxious boyfriend), and I convinced her to follow me up a trail that Nathan, my future groomsman (and top-notch photographer), recommended in lieu of the closed-to-weather mountain we had originally planned to hike. Waiting at the top of the trail was a breathtaking view, a ring, and Nathan with camera in hand to capture the moment. After a quick photo shoot, we returned to the hotel where two dozen of our closest friends were lying in wait to give Tracy the shock of her life. The surprise was perfect, the celebration that evening legendary, and thus began the next chapter of our blessed relationship.

In early November, John had asked if I wanted to celebrate an early Christmas with his family in Boone, North Carolina. I didn't hesitate to say yes and was excited for a weekend of hiking. As the weekend approached, we saw that there would be a fair amount of snow and left earlier than anticipated on that Friday to beat the worst of it. On the day of the proposal, we mostly hung out in the hotel room because John knew that I wouldn't be able to last long in the below freezing temperatures. Finally, after lunch in Blowing Rock, we went to a short trail (where I was guaranteed only about 30 minutes in the cold), where we hiked up to a beautiful view, and before I knew it John was on one knee. I was so surprised and overwhelmed! On the drive back to the hotel, I curbed any urge to call family and friends and to just enjoy the moment with my new fiancé. After we greeted his parents, we walked up to the hotel room to change before dinner. But when I opened the door to 20+ of our closest friends, I realized John had other plans for us. If you know John at all, you know it was difficult for him to trust this many people with such an important secret. I truly never believed he would tell anyone. My already overwhelmed heart just about gave out realizing that every single person there flew and drove through a snowstorm to get to us. We enjoyed the rest of our night with our amazing friends and it will truly be an unforgettable day in my life. John could not have planned a more perfect surprise and I've never felt so much love in one day. I cannot wait to make this thoughtful, amazing, and considerate man my husband!