Kyle and I both went to Mississippi State and majored in mechanical engineering! He was a year ahead of me, so we never had any of the same classes together or saw each other the first two years that I was there (although we joke about the possibility of us passing each other in the hall without even knowing it). When he returned from his engineering co-op for a whole year, that put us on the same track of having a few of the same classes, which is where we met. A mutual friend introduced us one day during Fall 2016 and from there, we started hanging out in the same friend group. My sorority's winter formal was coming up, and I did not have a date! Ironically, one of my friends was trying to set me up with another Kyle, but something in the back of my head kept wanting to ask this Kyle from my class! So after freaking out for a few days over who to ask, I mustered up the courage to ask Kyle from class. We ended up having a great time together and started hanging out more and more over the next few weeks, and from there, we were inseparable. However, immediately right after that winter break, I was starting a year-long engineering co-op two states over... We both wanted to make everything work and were able to successfully navigate long-distance, which made finally getting back to live in the same state even better and definitely worth it. Four years later, here we are!

Kyle and I had talked about getting engaged for a while, but we always just talked about it casually in passing. Knowing the type A personality that I have, I was not surprised when Kyle asked me if I wanted to go ring shopping with him one weekend. After looking at rings, I started getting a little anxious knowing that this could possibly be happening any time in the near future! Months passed, and nothing happened. Summer came and went and nothing happened. Of course, the COVID pandemic had now been in full swing for a while, so I was not expecting anything to happen in normal fashion. But I started to wonder if it was even going to happen this year at all! So one weekday in September, a couple of my friends asked if Kyle and I wanted to go on a double date to this new fancy restaurant in downtown Huntsville. That Saturday, Kyle and I went apple picking during the day as something to do before the date. (He was really just using that as a distraction while my other friends were busy setting everything up!) We came back from apple picking, got dressed up, and were to meet our friends at Big Spring Park, this really pretty park downtown, since one of them had supposedly never been there. We drove downtown, got out of the car and started walking to meet them, and they said they were over by the gazebo in the middle of the park. As we got closer, I could see decorations and some lights inside the gazebo, and I said to Kyle, "Is something going on here?" But that night also randomly ended up being the same night as Huntsville homecoming and a ton of other people were walking around all dressed up too, so I thought the decorations could be for that. We got right up to the gazebo where our friends were, I looked inside, and there were twinkly lights, hanging decorations, roses, a picture frame of us, and a cowbell that said Will You Marry Me?. I started tearing up on the spot, and he led me over into the gazebo, got down on one knee, and asked me! Of course I said yes!