My sophomore year at Florida State, I decided to go on a cruise for Spring Break with a few friends from college. We invited a few people along who invited more friends and it turned into a big group. Jay was attending Troy University but luckily had the same spring break week and joined the trip. A lot of the people on the cruise were dating so Jay and I ended up hanging out a lot. We stayed up all night one night, ended up stealing a bottle of wine from the ship's kitchen (sorry mom) and stayed up all night chatting by the pool. On the way home from Ft Lauderdale, our friends tricked us into thinking they all had pit stops to make and I ended up riding with Jay all the way back where he dropped me off in Tallahassee. He went back to Troy and I didn't think much of it since we were in different states but despite me losing my phone in Mexico (no surprises there) he kept in touch and visited often. We started dating a few weeks later, spent all summer together, he transferred to Tallahassee the next semester and the rest is history.

After hours of sneaking on Keely’s Pinterest to look at rings and being indecisive, I finally was able to pick the band and diamond I thought she would like. Then came what I thought would be the hard part in asking Tom the big question. It was all so rushed because we stopped by Troy, Alabama for a family event on the way to the Atlanta airport so time was a factor. I finally got Tom alone, at this point I’m sure I was a nervous wreck and he knew I was acting weirder than normal. I started to utter the words “Is it okay if I take..” and he stopped me, smiled and said of course. Just in the knick of time because Keely came back in the house, Tom distracted her as I slipped the ring back in my pocket. From there it was game time. Day 2 of Italy in front of the Trevi Fountain it was going down. Day 2 comes around, the ring is in my pocket and …well I chickened out. So I knew I had to do it the next day since Keely’s family expected the deed to be done and must’ve thought all hell broke loose and I backed out. The next day at the end of our hike in Vernazza, Cinque Terre we were both dead tired after hiking up the mountainside to no end, we quit and were looking over the edge of the cliff. The view was like a post card so I knew this was the moment. After pacing for 10 minutes, extremely nervous and constantly being questioned by Keely if I was okay, I dropped to one knee and popped the question. She froze and instantly I thought well this didn’t go as planned maybe I can play it off as a joke and she won’t think I’m weird. She FINALLY said yes and everything was simply alright. After 12 days in Europe, eating schnitzel at the Hofbräuhaus House in Munich, pushing our little rental car the absolute max on the autobahn, walking the steps of the Coliseum in Rome, and joy riding on a boat in Venice, its the cliff in Vernazza that will always hold a special place in my heart because that’s where the love of my life said yes to spending the rest of our days together.