We had knew of each other for a few years, considering we went to the same high school. I started attending the same church as Montel after my sisters + I went to an FCA rally that his church hosted. Montel had been flirting with me for months lol. I decided to randomly invite him to my sisters surprise birthday party and now we’ve LITERALLY talked everyday since, December 19, 2014. We were in the same youth group for a few months before he graduated and got to form great relationships with people that are now our forever friends. And grew closer to Christ together & that’s something we’ll both forever cherish. -xoxo Soon to be Hardin’s

Montel + I had been in Chicago for the week on vacation. We did lots of exploring the city + rating our Uber drivers from halfway normal- absolutely crazy lol. I got to try the infamous deep dish pizza for the first time, it was nothing short of amazing. From the time we arrived, I instantly fell in love with the place. We had an amazing time. It was perfect, from eating the best pancakes from a Mexican restaurant to the romantic night boat tours. That entire week Montel kept insisting that we wait until the last day to go to Willis Tower. So I say “sure why not”, not even realizing why that was so important to him at the time. It is now the day before our last day in the “Windy City”. We start the day off with breakfast and then head off to the SkyDeck Ledge. The lines were really long but moved really fast. Montel randomly asked me “are you ready” and I said “yeah” thinking he thought I was nervous about getting on the elevator. We get onto the elevator and go up to the 103rd floor. We are then directed to stand in another long line and realize it’s raining. Tel looks really upset and says “this would be our luck that it starts pouring down raining once we make it to the top”. Montel tells me he has this great idea to do push-ups on the ledge for a video. I say I think it’s a great idea and would make a good IG post. We then notice the rain starts to stop and the sun is shining bright through the clouds. It makes perfect timing as we just made it to the front! He hands his phone to the worker to record what I thought was going to be him doing push-ups. We only have 90 seconds to take pictures and videos. Montel slowly gets on one knee and I tell him “Hurry! We don’t have long to get pictures and your push-up video lol.” Then he pulls the ring out of his back pocket and my heart instantly starts racing out of excitement + surprise. I say yes and then there’s 300 people behind us cheering and congratulating us! It was the best day ever!! :)