We were. For a year. But it turned out we really, really liked being friends. So, now we are getting married. We met our freshman year in college at UGA and kicked it off over our love for music, spontaneity, and laughing. We have gone on many adventures together, from day snowboarding trips, to traveling through Europe with friends, to graduating college. It's been a fun, honest, hard, beautiful- time together and we are excited to spend the rest of our lives loving God, loving others and laughing through it all.

We have spent some of our most favorite times in North Carolina so it's only fitting he ask on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were going to what I (Merrick) though was a special showing of La La Land in Asheville when Ryan veared onto the Parkway and handed me a box. He had written me fourteen letters and had assigned a song to each of them- to be read in order with each song playing in the background. From Bon Iver to Lorde, Death Cab to our good friend Mosaic, each song alone was enough to bring someone to their knees, all of them together, plus his heart on paper was magic. When we had gotten to our destination we got out of the car and he gave me the last letter, lyrics to a song he wrote me, along with headphones. We walked to an overlook as I listened to the detail and care in every word. We got to the overlook and he asked me to marry him to which I replied, "Yes! Thank you!". It was overcast, rainy- perfect.

We made a video! Copy and paste this link into your search bar! https://youtu.be/SRPJBQXAqz8