We met on a dating app called "Coffee Meets Bagel." Very millenial of us, we know. But God was writing our stories for each other far before we downloaded the app. Coming out of a season of growth, trial, and heartbreak; I would be lying if I said I wasn't skeptical about the dating scene, or this man who asked me to tell him what songs I would sing and make up while in traffic. But his message was sent, and after I shared a made up song with him and we had casual small talk, he asked for my number. He set up a date for us to meet at Ponce City Market two weeks out because he knew he was going out of town to move his friends to Kentucky. I was surprised but also intrigued by the guy who would intentionally make plans just to see me when he got back from his trip. But he seemed like an intentional man, and later I would discover how it felt to be pursued and cherished by someone who loved Christ. It did take me a while to agree to be his girlfriend, he seemed too good to be true and I was hesitant to get my heart broken again. But he seemed different, and he is. The rest is a beautiful weird story of finding love and acceptance in each other and it contains a lot of laughs along the way. I'm so thankful that God is in the business of turning ashes into beauty. And I'm so thankful that He sees the finished puzzle of our lives while we can only see one puzzle piece at a time. Because Matthew has always been a part of my puzzle that I was missing. He is the man I prayed I would one day find but never really thought I would. He was everything I wanted and everything I didn't know I needed. He shows me daily what a glimpse of Christ's love is for me, and sometimes I have to pinch myself that this life we are building together is real. I never would have thought we'd be here, or that one day a funny, handsome, weird, loving man would go out of his way to plan a perfect proposal for me. And we are so excited for this new adventure and cannot wait to say "I do!"

Our friend Tiffany had taken some pictures of us before, and she reached out around a month before the proposal to see if we would want to take more pictures with her and her new lens. So, of course, we said yes! Little did I know that Matthew was behind this picture taking plan and he would soon ask me one of the most important questions of my life. When the day came to have our pictures done, Matthew and I went to the Planetarium at Fern Bank. One of our first dates was when Matthew took me star gazing in the back of a truck bed in the middle of a field (disgusting, I know). After the Planetarium, we passed by Ponce City Market (our first ever date) and then headed to Tiffany and Ryan's house to get ready for our pictures. When we got ready to leave to head to our destination for pictures, Matt's friend Jerad called and told him his car was broken down in Atlanta and asked for his help. It sounded legit, and Matt is always willing to help his people, so we agreed he would go ahead and leave and we could just meet up and take pictures in ATL. So, I rode with Ryan and Tiffany, we got some Starbucks, and headed near Piedmont Park where Jerad was "supposedly" broken down. We arrived at Piedmont Park (where we first became boyfriend & girlfriend), and as I turned a corner, I saw him under a gazebo with my sister and some of my best friends standing on the bridge. I lost it. There were petals and candles around him under the gazebo, with a picture he had made of us with our favorite song on it, and there he was. He asked me to marry him and of course I said "YES!!" After the BEAUTIFUL ring was placed on my finger, he showed me a video he made of everyone who means the world to us congratulating us. THIS MAN reached out to our people beforehand and asked for these videos along with asking my family for their blessing. It was beautiful and perfect. We then went to the reservation he made at the Park Tavern and celebrated with our friends. AHHH! Perfect.