Emily and Jarod met in junior high at their small private school. When Jarod was in eighth grade, he started to notice Emily and quickly began to pursue her. (Well, as much as you can pursue a girl attending a Christian school when you are only thirteen). Emily was oblivious to the whole situation until one day at the playground, their best friends decided to play matchmaker. Simon had told Imari about Jarod's crush and, of course, Imari had to tell Emily. While she still did not believe it, Emily began to notice Jarod around a lot more than usual. After that, it began a relationship of side hugs, awkward pictures, and a lot of group activities.

Emily had two wishes when it came to the proposal: (1) she wanted the whole family there to enjoy it with them and (2) it had to be heavily photographed. I (Emily), having a love for travel, decided I wanted to go to Savannah, Georgia to see the city for a weekend trip. Fully intending to drag Jarod, Madi, and Lindsey along for the ride, I began to convince them to plan a trip. They all quickly agreed to go, bags were packed, and we all headed to Georgia for the weekend. We had rented a cute beach condo on Tybee Island and had planned to go into the city the next day to walk around and take some pictures. We arrived at the condo and had a pizza party for dinner. The next morning, Jarod bought us all breakfast and we got ready to go into the city. He was acting a little giddy so I thought for a split second that maybe he was going to propose. However, he knew I wanted my family there, and I could not see a ring box in his pockets so I pushed the thought from my mind. We walked the city and arrived at the big fountain in downtown Savannah. It was beautiful! Jarod suggested we take some pictures so we took turns posing. Then, it was time for Jarod and I to take a picture. Next thing I knew he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! As soon as I said "yes" our whole family came out of the bushes and showered us in love and hugs. I was speechless to say the least. We spent the rest of the weekend walking the city and enjoying the time with our family celebrating our engagement. Savannah, Georgia quickly became and always will be a special place to us both.