Amanda and I met in elementary school when I moved down to Georgia from Illinois. From the moment I first saw her, I had a crush but was always too nervous to talk to her. We had always known each other throughout middle school but it wasn't until high school where we started talking more. Freshmen year in high school when we had a P.E. class together and she would always ask me to tie her shoes even though I tied them together at least once a week. She kept asking so I figured I was doing something right? Junior year of high school, we started talking more and studying together. After a few months of getting to know each other more, I asked her on a date to the movies with me and 2 other couples we were close with. Ironically enough, the movie was called The Vow. When I finally summed up enough courage to ask her to be my girlfriend on February 11, 2012, she said "wait, are you kidding? You're joking right? Yes!"

Garrett and I have been friends since he moved to Georgia in elementary school. I cheered for his football team starting in 3rd grade and he was always the cute one with the curly hair... but it wasn't until our freshman year of high school when we really started hanging out. He would always tie my shoes together in gym class before I had the chance to tie them on my own (okay so maybe I let him tie my shoes together day after day) and he never said no to letting me play basketball with the guys, which obviously wasn't ideal. He left sweet notes in my locker and acted like an immature high school boy (didn't they all) most of the time, but something about him was special. We spent time together constantly... youth group, walking the halls of GHS before school, and excuses to study together became more frequent. After what felt like forever... on February 11, 2012, he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. We were sitting in the movie theater with some of our best friends about to watch 'The Vow' when he asked, and I will never live down my response, "Are you serious?". Of course I followed up with an excited "Yes!" I couldn't have been more excited that the Lord put such an amazing man in my life and that he wanted to call me his girlfriend. Since that day, I have continued to pray and hope for him to be the one I spend the rest of my life with. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we continued with a long distance relationship in college. I balled my eyes out as we said goodbye for the first time, but our relationship was constant and stood firm. We spent years growing individually and as a couple, trusting in the Lord's plan for the two of us. I am forever thankful that plan led us here, because there is no one like Garrett and no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with.

For the longest time, the plan was to ask Amanda in Chicago over Labor Day weekend but that changed the day before June 23 when I decided I wanted to propose earlier. I had a few days off from summer classes and decided to go home on a Thursday while she was at work and pick up the ring I had made with my late grandmother's diamond. That day I decided I was going to ask her the next day, surprising our friends and family with a one day notice (I had already told everyone it was going to happen in Chicago). On Friday, I picked her up from work and we headed up to Dahlonega to do a quick hike before the rain came in. She didn't know that I had already met up with a friend of ours earlier that day (a professional photographer) to give her some things to set up on top of the mountain for us. When we reached the top, we could see the most breathtaking view of the mountains and a blanket that had two wine glasses, a wine bottle, and a note. I asked if she wanted to sit and poured her a glass of wine while she read a note that I wrote her. I knew exactly what I was going to say when I got down on one knee but that all went out the window when the time actually came. When she finished reading, I helped her up, got down on one knee on top of Preacher's Rock and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. What made the night even more special was that I used the same diamond that my grandfather gave to his high school sweetheart, who we later found out, got married on that exact day, June 23, 60 years ago.