We’re getting hitched!

I was a freshman at Troy University and an AGD pledge when I met Drew. He was an ATO pledge. I recall telling my best friend, Ally, that I thought Drew was cute. That really was the extent of our relationship for most of our time at Troy. He was friendly to everyone. Anytime he saw me, he always spoke first. Usually saying, “What’s up dude?”. Throughout college, we dated other people. We stayed friends, but nothing more. My Senior year at Troy, Drew randomly invited me to go get ice cream. I saw no point in any type of date since I was moving to Missouri to be with my family right after graduation in May. Ally (my girl since day one) encouraged me to go. I reluctantly agreed to. Instead of an ice cream date we went enoing. We stayed up talking and catching up for five hours. If you know us, you know we are both talkers. I honestly believe I listened to Drew more than I talked (a shocker I know). I didn’t want to leave fearing that we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that again. Was I wrong. The next day, Drew asked me to hang out again. I was excited, but also scared. I knew there was no point of even getting into any type of relationship when I was moving soon. The next month and a half I friend zoned him. Hard core. He still pursued me. We were both well aware that we had feelings for one another. Twelve hours would be a long distance for a relationship though. Over Thanksgiving break, we both spent time in prayer asking the Lord what we should do. The day we returned back from the break, Drew picked me up and took me to our eno spot. He was extremely awkward and nervous. I just knew he was about to end things between us. When he finally spoke, he started quoting Ephesians 5:31. I was more than confused. He told me if pursuing me meant moving to Missouri then he’d go. I was shocked. In April he moved to Missouri to start his job. In July, I moved and joined him and my family. The Lord’s hand fully orchestrating our relationship had been so very evident!

One of my favorite places in the world is Forest Park in St. Louis. I grew up going to Forest Park when my family would come to Missouri for family trips. After moving to Missouri, Drew and I would take picnics to Forest Park. We quickly found a favorite spot on the hill under a shady tree looking out over the entire park. Our one year anniversary was coming up and Drew had planned a picnic to Forest Park. Nothing about Drew planning anything was a surprise because he is very intentional and thoughtful. The Missouri weather has been pretty relentless these last few months. Our picnic wasn’t happening in the 20 degree weather on November 10, 2018. Instead, we went to eat brunch at The Boat House. Drew barely ate any of his food and got up to go to the restroom at least 4 times. He was acting like he did the night he asked me to be his girlfriend. I kind of just thought he might not be feeling well. When he asked me if I wanted to go look at the Art Museum I knew he must have been sick. I am not a museum kind of girl. I just went with it because I knew he had put a lot of thought into our day and the weather kind of messed up our plans. When we started walking to the museum, he asked if I wanted to go look at our spot. My hands and face were actually ice at this point but I wanted to see the changing leaves on our tree. Out of nowhere, Drew pulled out a 3 page letter. Again, this wasn’t unusual because he has written me so many letters throughout our relationship. When I got to the second page I realized what was happening. He began telling me how he knew the Lord had created me for him. How he had prayed for me since he was young. How he wanted to spend his life with me. I began crying and by the end of it I was sobbing. When I looked up, he was on one knee asking me to spend forever with him. It was so perfect. My cousin and Matron of Honor, Hillary Donnelley, managed to disguise herself and get the entire thing on video. It was the best day ever!!

It all started with a little prayer to The Father. It was a simple prayer. I prayed for the Lord to bring joy in my life. One week later in early September of 2017, my prayer was answered. I had known Josie Gagliano for four years. However, she really became a part of my life in early September of 2017. Out of the blue, I asked her to go on an ice cream date. She low key kept avoiding the question. Finally, she agreed to going. I know now this was all thanks to Ally Southerland. We ended up going enoing instead. We talked for hours like it was the most natural thing thing in the world. These eno dates became a regular thing and were what I looked forward to most during my week. I was immediately in pursuit of this woman's heart. There was a catch. She immediately let me know she was not interested in a relationship because she would be moving to Missouri to be with her family once she graduated in May. I was friend zoned before I knew it. We quickly began developing feelings for one another. She continued to friend zone me. I knew this woman was the love of my life and the friend zone was not stopping me. Over Thanksgiving break, I spent a long time in prayer asking The Father what steps to take next in my relationship with Josie. I was confident He created her for me and wanted to continue pursuing her heart by dating her. I had made up my mind that I would move to Missouri if it meant dating her. After we returned from Thanksgiving break, I took her to our eno spot. I read Ephesians 5:31 and explained to her that I would leave it all behind and move to Missouri in order to continue to pursue her heart and date her. Thankfully, she said yes to being my girlfriend. In April, I moved to Missouri and began my job. In July, Josie moved up here and joined her family and me. The Lord was so faithful in having his hand in our relationship. By this time, I knew I wanted to ask Josie to be my wife. So, I began making my plans to ask her to marry me.

Forest Park is one of Josie's favorite places to go. She took me to Forest Park when I visited her for New Years right after we had begun dating. When we both began living in Missouri, we had many picnics in Forest Park. I spent the entire Summer and early Fall planning when and where I wanted to propose. Our one year anniversary was coming up and I knew the time had come to ask my best friend to spend the rest of her life with me. I knew I wanted to do it in Forest Park in our picnic spot. A couple of weeks prior to the proposal, I asked Josie's cousins, Hillary and Owen, if they would discretely take pictures and video the proposal. They agreed and we began planning out a timeline for it to happen. I had to make some extremely last minute changes due to the weather. Missouri weather is about as bad as Alabama weather. Instead of unpredictable heat and rain like you have in Alabama, it is unpredictable snow and freezing temperatures. A picnic was not happening in twenty degrees. Instead, we went and ate at one of our favorite little restaurants in Forest Park. I was SO nervous I barely ate my food. As we were eating, I got up and went to the restroom four times to call Hillary and make sure everything was in place. After we finished eating (well, after Josie finished eating), we began driving to the Art Museum which was right across the street from our picnic spot. I could tell Josie was not thrilled about the idea of a day at the museum. As we were walking to the museum I asked her to go look at our spot. I could also tell she was freezing, but she had no clue what was coming next. When we got to our spot, I handed her a letter. I described my love for her and explained to her how much joy, peace, and love she brought into my life. How I could not wait to spend the rest of my life with the woman I had prayed for since I was young. When she finished reading it, I got on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. Thankfully, she said yes!