My friend and I were out at Gin Mill's rooftop bar. We had grabbed a drink and were talking to one another when all of a sudden I got a tap on my shoulder, I turned around. A girl was standing there with an absolutely beautiful smile, and stunning good looks and asks, “How tall are you?”. I’m standing here thinking “Is she talking to me? Do I need to pinch myself to make sure this is real?” I go on and state my height, “6’8.” Then she states, “I thought you were a lot shorter, we are pretty much the same height and also you look a lot like Luke Combs.” She then proceeds to walk away. As any gentleman would think, if someone was trying to make them feel shorter than they actually were, we had to discuss this further. As she was walking away toward the bar, I eventually caught up to her and decided to buy her a drink. We began to discuss in long detail about how tall we ACTAULLY were, how she loves Luke Combs, and how she loves to hunt. We talked for hours or until the store owners kicked us out. It was like talking to a best friend that you never knew you had and I only wanted more. Now I can honestly say that she is truly my best friend and my soul mate.

The night we met was at a really nice establishment, Gin Mill. I was chatting with my friend Sarah and noticed a cutie across the rooftop bar. There was one problem though, this guy was about the same height as me which I was not a fan of. Before the statement is even fully out of my mouth, I see Sarah rolling her eyes because apparently my height dysmorphia was at it again. She was promising me that this guy was substantially taller than me, even in heels. Although I was not positive, I decided to go ask the handsome stranger just how tall he was. He let me know that he was indeed substantially taller than me and I let him know I thought he was only 6’2”. With that, I left for another drink and went about my night. A quick bit later though, this same alleged tall man came up and asked for my name and if I wanted a drink. That night we stuck together for as long as the bar would let us. I was my most extremely weird self from the second I met him. I think I was even trying extra hard to get some sort of reaction out of him since nothing was phasing him (if you have seen us interact I think I still do that to this day). He has always been able to give the weirdness right back to me and from night one his many sides always fascinated me. He is so tall, allegedly, yet so weird and sweet! I had to keep learning more about him from then on and I am so glad we did because I would have missed out on my favorite nugget.

Lance is always two extremes; he either plans absolutely nothing or he plans absolutely everything and for this weekend, he planned everything. Wrightsville has always been such a special place to me and no other beach towns have ever compared. The whole day was so relaxed and the weather was surprisingly warm for January so we wanted to do a sunset walk. Whenever Lance threw out “oh yes let’s go for a walk at 4:30” I started to think how weird it was that he was being such a planner for the walk. We get to walking on the beach and from that moment I had a strong feeling it was going to happen but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Why did I have such a strong feeling you ask? Well, this man started talking complete gibberish! Nothing made sense and he was hopping all over the place and then the statement a girl always dreams about came, “Is that a homeless person over there? So I’ve been thinking a lot about our future”. (Yes…you read that correctly, I told you he was all over the place!) He got down on his knee and then spoke words that I definitely blacked out during (he later told me them again and I think my cheeks were numb from smiling so big). The surprises didn’t stop there. That homeless person- was a photographer, 2 of my nieces came down in the cutest little shirts and even 2 of my best friends showed up on the beach to celebrate! Tears were flowing and I was/am so grateful for how much thought he put into the special day. He really is incredible in making me feel so special. It was and is so surreal to grasp that I am actually going to marry my best friend. It makes my heart so happy thinking back on it and I can’t wait to marry this nugget and try to make him constantly know just how special he is and how much I love him. Whew! Okay mushiness is over!!

1/1 at Wrightsville Beach, I had dreamt of this day for a long time. I was finally getting to ask the girl of my dreams to marry me. I’d been planning the proposal for a little while with the help of family and friends, and I’ll be the first to tell you I couldn’t have done it without them. The dream team and I had been in constant contact to make sure this day went according to plan. With family, Sarah, and the photographer, we all felt confident that Madison had no clue of what was about to come. I’m guessing it was about 3:30 that afternoon when it finally hit, my nerves were setting in. Madison and I were sitting on the balcony, talking and reading a book when I look down to see she had fallen asleep on me. As I’m trying not to move or wake her, I hear my heart beating rapidly while I went over the proposal and re-read the speech countless times in my head. Thirty minutes passed and she FINALLY woke up. We both decided to go walk on the beach before dinner since it was such a beautiful day out. I was thinking in my mind, “yes perfect this is working out according to plan”. She went off to get dressed and I did the same. I was so nervous, I think I honestly got ready in 2 minutes. I could have counted the seconds to be honest. All I was thinking about at that point was, “she is about to make me the happiest man alive”. She came out of her room, looking beautiful as always with her fringe jacket, and dang she pulled it off! We made it out of the room, down the stairs, and I was just trying make sure I hit every step. I saw in the corner of my eye, the photographer, and thought to myself, “this is it Lance”. Madison and I walked down the beach a few hundred yards where she made me the happiest man alive. I can’t wait to marry you Madison Norman, you are the most important person in my life, I love everything about you down to your inside out socks. Be my best friend for life.