Janette and I are both members of Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, though due to us sitting in different parts of the sanctuary, we never crossed paths. We were also a part of the same young professionals' group in church, and yet never attended the same events. It wasn't until after the new year that our paths collided. I had just decided I needed to be more active with the young professionals' group. So I volunteered to serve dinner at Thrive Parkridge and then attend the dinner with the group afterward. I distinctly remember getting to the restaurant late because of getting stuck in the wrong lane and missing my turn. I realize now that it was God creating the perfect moment for me to meet my future wife. I parked behind the Downtown Grill & Brewery and walked up the back entrance. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. I turned the corner to face the entrance, where Chris Moore told me everyone was waiting, and I saw this beautiful woman with a bright spotlight above her. A large crowd was in that exact area and I only saw her. At that moment I knew I had to talk to her. So, as per usual, I totally played it cool and introduced myself and made some small talk with the other people around her. Then when they went to seat us, I strategically sat diagonal to her so I wouldn't come off too direct, but still, get a chance to get to know her. We hit it off that night and I knew when we said our casual good-byes that this girl was like nobody I'd ever met before.

Cullen had told me he wanted to pick me up after work to check out a local park, though he didn't give specifics on what we would be doing. We had talked about trying to have new adventures together, so I thought maybe this was something he wanted to do. I had previously realized this was one year's "anniversary" from when we met, but I wasn't sure if/how he wanted to mark the day. So anyway, I went down to meet Cullen outside after work and we started driving out of downtown. He said he wanted to visit the Knoxville Botanical Gardens, which I hadn't even known about. He was using GPS so I assumed he had never been there, either, which made me think this was nothing particularly special. We parked in a gravel lot next to a field and started walking toward a garden entrance. I was chatting along, telling Cullen something about my day. We were walking down this little path toward an enclosed garden when all of a sudden, Cullen pulled back on my hand and turned me around to face him. He leaned in to gently kiss me and then started talking about the day we met. As he continued talking, my mind was spinning between shock and joy as I could tell he was about to propose. Cullen quoted one of my favorite lines from a proposal in "Downton Abbey" (which we had watched together last summer): "You've lived your life and I've lived mine. It's time we live them together." Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a little box. I couldn't have been happier to answer his question with "yes!" After he put the ring on my finger and we soaked that in for a moment, I suddenly heard a gleeful shout from the side. I looked over and saw a photographer friend from our small group come walking toward us from about fifty feet away. She had been photographing the whole thing! Cullen and I spent some time in the field nearby, looking out on the Smoky Mountains, and later were able to enjoy dinner together at the very restaurant downtown where we had first met. And here we are!