After finishing grad school, I started at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2018. Ray “Rock” Oliver, Ashley’s dad, invited me to Thanksgiving dinner at his house with his wife. My relationship with Ray started from my interview for my previous position at the University of Kentucky, working with the school’s men’s basketball team, and then continued once I started working on campus. Ray made sure I had everything I needed in my role, and I was honored he invited me over for dinner since I was not returning home to Chicago for the holidays. When I arrived at Ray’s house on Thanksgiving Day, a pretty, chocolate woman with big hair greeted me. She asked who I was, and I informed her I was there as a guest of Ray Oliver. She said, “That’s my dad,” and “my name is Ashley. Please make yourself comfortable while I let him know you are here.” I introduced myself to other family members sitting in the living room while I waited for Ray to appear. When Ashley returned, she told me her dad would be out shortly. Then Ashley and I started talking just to get to know each other; we both worked in higher education, so that was an instant point of connection. After dinner, I chatted with her immediate and extended family, watched football games, and ate lots of leftovers. They were going to a late-night viewing of Creed 2 that night and asked if I wanted to come along. I said yes because I was enjoying the company of everyone. After going to the movies, Ashley and I exchanged information, and we started texting later that night. The next day I planned to do some shopping and then watch the UK basketball game later. When I told Ashley of my plans via text, I added, “Join me?” and she agreed. So we met at Roosters before going to Dillard’s to shop. We then went to the UK basketball with Ashley, her friend Tiffany, and her cousin and had a blast. The next day, on Saturday, we went to BJ Brewhouse to watch Michigan v. Ohio State and ended the night at one of my co-worker's apartments to watch several thrilling overtime games. Ashley and I have been inseparable ever since! I did not arrive there to meet my soulmate or start a romantic relationship with anyone. Instead, I wanted to do my time in Kentucky and start looking ahead to my next stop in a couple of years. I even turned down seven job offers at seven different institutions before deciding on this role at UK. God had His hand on rerouting me to Kentucky, and I am amazed at how far we’ve come to get to this point!

Kevin and I discussed being engaged and married early in our relationship. Still, I wasn’t the type of girlfriend pressuring him about a ring - our relationship just felt so solid the way it was that I knew it would happen when it would happen. On October 16th, Kevin picked me up to go to an apple orchard, which was exciting because I LOVE apple orchards and love the fall aesthetic. When we got there, a photographer and videographer hopped on our hayride, asking for permission to shoot some B-roll for the orchard, and we said fine. They gave us some direction on how to walk, fun poses to do, and more. I thought this was a little weird that they were so focused on poses since we weren’t paid actors, but as a content creator, I figured they were just trying to get some free labor of their orchard out of us, lol! Then, for the last pose, the photographer asked us to hold a dynamic pose on the count of three - one, two, three BOOM! And on the BOOM, I’m posing in some ridiculous way, and my sweet Kevin drops to one knee and asks me to marry him. I don’t remember the words that came out of his mouth. It all just felt surreal and like I was on a cloud. Finally, I said yes after asking him if he was serious about 5 times, and out of nowhere came my line sisters, sorors, mommy, little brother, and dad - and I just lost it! The scenery was beautiful - Kevin and my mom helped stage an area by a gorgeous pond, so we took more photos, more video, and finally, the hayride out of the orchard, but I had a very heavy souvenir on my left hand! When we got back to my house, Kevin told me he had another surprise - when I came down to the basement, there was a zoom chat of about 30 loved ones wishing us congratulations! I immediately burst into tears again - I couldn’t believe how sneaky everyone was and how surreal the moments were! It meant so much to me that our loved ones who would’ve been there if not for the pandemic were still able to celebrate with us. My mom took the time to decorate, had cake, wine, and apple cider with “she said yes” printed on them - she did a fantastic job being the creative genius because my Kevin doesn’t have an artistic bone in his body ;) After the call, I got on the phone with my bestie Tawanda who told me the real tea - that Kevin had initially planned to propose in the summer and then wanted to do a bonfire, but that was thwarted because of covid. She said that she and my line sisters, another close friend, and my mom were his counsel, which was so sweet and made me cry again. Also, she admitted that she had been harassing me about which press-on nails we should buy and try out together because she knew the proposal was happening and that I would lose it if my nails weren’t done (so true!). I didn’t know I had a dream proposal until Kevin gave me mine. That night was the best night of my life - our relationship was already the favorite gift God has given me, but for him to declare in front of our friends and family that he wanted us to be together forever - it’s just the sweetest thing. I am so honored and proud to be his fianceé and to plan this beautiful celebration for our next chapter.