A South Carolina Love Story

Vanessa was on vacation in Myrtle Beach when she and her two friends began looking at her Tinder account. It was on the last night of her vacation when she matched with Ryan. The following day she and her friends left Myrtle Beach and returned to upstate South Carolina. Vanessa noticed that she had a message from Ryan asking if she was still in town. To his dismay, she had already left and did not have any near future plans of returning. However, he continued his conversation. By his account, Vanessa responded to his messages sporadically, often with large lapses of time between responses. Ryan was getting annoyed until, out of no where, she began responding more consistently. After several weeks of talking on Tinder, their conversations progressed to texts and phone calls. By Vanessa’s account, she began to become impatient as she wanted to meet him in person. After some discussion, Ryan asked if she wanted to attend a Blink-182 concert in Greenville. She agreed. Vanessa was running late the night of their first date and asked Ryan to pick her up later than planned. He met a friend at a nearby restaurant to wait until Vanessa said she was ready. Vanessa was finally ready, Ryan picked her up, and the two went to Tupelo Honey for dinner before the concert. She ordered endless macaroni and cheese... Ryan hates macaroni and cheese! They ate. They walked to the concert. Vanessa and Ryan purchased a beer and glass of wine, walked into the arena, and stood to watch the opening band. Ryan took one sip of his beer when the opening band began throwing toilet paper rolls into the crowd, which hit Ryan’s beer and knocked it out of his hands. Ryan was livid. He kept his cool. They enjoyed the Blink-182 concert. Vanessa thought it was the best first date she had ever been on. Ryan dropped her off at her house and left. And the rest is history!

Vanessa and Ryan decided they were going to split family holidays for the first time, with Ryan traveling to Texas for Thanksgiving and Vanessa staying in South Carolina for Christmas. Months prior to their 24 hour trek to God's country (aka Texas), Vanessa was bombarded by people asking if and when Ryan was going to propose. She'd respond, "I don't know but I know it will be soon." As it got closer to Thanksgiving friends began asking Vanessa if he was going to propose while they were in the Rio Grande Valley with her family. She was adamant that he wasn't and quickly stated, "NO." She 100% thought he was going to propose when it was just them two, without anyone around. Fast forward... Vanessa and Ryan drove from Greenville, SC straight to McAllen, TX the week of Thanksgiving. Vanessa graced Ryan with her singing capabilities and he made fun of her. The usual! They arrived safely in McAllen and began their short vacation with her family. Every day was filled with an activity or family/friends we needed to visit with. We were both exhausted! The morning of Thanksgiving Vanessa woke up, took a shower, curled her hair, prepared to go visit with her dad and skeet shoot with the family. For those who do not know, Vanessa got a parasite on her legs a couple of years ago while she was skeet shooting on her dad's property so she is very vigilant about wearing the appropriate footwear (i.e. boots) every time she goes back. Well, Vanessa forgot her cowboy boots. Luckily, she managed to pack her Uggs. Though they are not the most ideal shoe to wear when you are on desert land, it was better than wearing tennis shoes or sandals. She put on her Uggs and wore a Texas Tech shirt so she didn't have to worry about a nice shirt getting dirty. After all, she was not prepared for what was about to occur....

Now that Vanessa was ready, she, Ryan, her two sisters, Bianca and Briana, and Bianca's friend got set to leave. They walked outside and Vanessa realized it was misty, cold, and gloomy. Her curly hair was in desperate need of better weather. She didn't have such luck and her hair quickly flattened. By all accounts, Ryan was very nervous and talkative throughout the drive but Vanessa didn't notice a single thing. They arrived at their dad's and began shooting skeet. Vanessa was distracted by Bianca's friend shooting a shot gun for the first time and with the weather being horrible that she didn't see anything coming. She stood at the line and began shooting skeet. When she was done with her three rounds she turned to see Ryan on one knee! In complete and utter shock she stated, "Shut up! Are you serious?" She doesn't remember anything else happening! She knows she said, "yes," and that she held the shot gun in her hand the entire time. By Ryan's account, he expected Bianca or Briana to grab the gun from Vanessa but they didn't do that. And so a day that began as a total failure in Vanessa's eyes, turned into one she will never forget! Never did she think she'd be proposed to while she looked horrible, holding a gun, and in front of others. And that is why the proposal is perfect!