G and I both grew up in Edmond, so we had a lot of mutual friends, but our paths never crossed until March of 2017. G had definitely made his way into my DM’s, but first as a kind friend. I never thought anything of it, because I wasn’t interested in dating anyone at the time! After about 5 months of short responses and barely giving him the time of day, I finally decided that I would at least have a conversation with him. I had seen him working often at Cafe Evoke in Edmond, so I knew he had to be somewhat normal (ha). I took a trip to San Fransisco over spring break with some friends and G and I ended up talking the whole week I was gone! He finally boldly asked if I wanted to hang out with him when I got back home. I didn’t even hesitate to say yes! Something drew me to him— he was so easy to talk to. We went on a couple of dates when I got home, and then when I went back to Stillwater to finish out the semester, I harshly told him I didn’t want a relationship at that time and that I wanted to focus on other things until summer (I know, super rough of me). This began the dreadful 2 months that I made Gage wait. I knew I wanted to date him the whole time, but made it seem like I didn’t (ha). But regardless of me continuously turning him down, G kept his full pursuit of me. This was one of the first things I noticed and admired about him— that even when things were hard, he wasn’t going to give up. Fast forward to the summer, and I couldn’t hold my feelings in any longer. He asked me to be his girlfriend in Nashville right before we saw one of our favorite artists, Penny and Sparrow. It was perfect. Now, look where we are. :)

I had no idea. G did an amazing job of keeping everything a secret. He told some little white lies & declined FT calls from me when I literally FaceTimed him while he was at the jeweler getting the ring. He proposed a couple of days before my birthday, so any “off” thing that was said or done that week leading up to it I thought was because they were planning a surprise birthday party for me! (Lol) He asked if we wanted to do an early birthday dinner & waited until the day of to ask where I wanted to go eat (he had already made reservations, obvi). He was so casual about everything. I went to brunch with some friends for my bday & that kept me busy! That evening we headed to dinner. There were a few things that happened at dinner that kind of threw me off. After dinner, I thought we were meeting some friends before I went to bed (I was running the half marathon in the morning, I told G I had a strict curfew of 8:30. Yeah I laugh at this now, too.) G started driving in the opposite direction of where we were meeting them. I knew we had time to kill before we met them. He eventually ended up at “the spot”. This was where we went on our first date + where he kissed me for the first time— on top of a parking garage in the city! He asked if I wanted to go up there + this is where it hit me that something COULD actually be happening. I then noticed he was shaking SO bad. I still told myself nothing was happening + to blow it off. During that spiral drive up to the top, my heart started pounding out of my chest. We get to the top & the rest is a blur. He walked me over to a little set up. I then realize they’re pictures of us + completely understand what’s about to happen so naturally I start sobbing. Through several tears G reads a letter to me and then got down on one knee + asked me to marry him! After that we drove to Evoke (where I first saw & met him) and were greeted + celebrated by friends + family. I still feel like I’m living in a dream! Nov. 16th come faster!!