it is happening.

I was scheduled to go into work that evening which meant my plans to attend a Thanksgiving dinner with some friends had been spoiled. However, as luck would have it, I received a call from the hospital shortly before heading in saying that they were over staffed which meant if I wanted to, I did not have to go into work that evening. "YES!" I squealed, and raced to my closet to throw on an outfit fit for a Thanksgiving feast. My roommate and bff, Jessica, was going on a date that evening so we quickly got ready together and before splitting ways and leaving for my party I grabbed the nice bottle of wine I'd bought from a local cider mill and said to Jess, "Take a picture of me with this for good luck that I won't have to go in the rest of the night!" Spoiler Alert* the picture worked. To my knowledge, the only people that were going to be at the party were friends I already knew, so it was quite the surprise when a little while into mingling with old friends a tall, handsome man in cowboy boots showed up to the party with Kentucky bourbon in one hand and mac'n'cheese in the other (*cue me swooning*). After some giggling about how cute this guy was, I decided I had to go introduce myself so I made sure I was strategically standing behind the boy in boots when we all headed to the kitchen to fill our plates. And it was there in the Thanksgiving dinner line in a little apartment in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that I stretched out my arm and shook my future husband's hand for the first time.

I swear there was some kind of invisible thread between us the rest of the evening. I had never felt so captivated by someone in my entire life. I remember being vividly aware of where Clay was throughout the party. For instance once he was in the kitchen and conveniently at that very moment I was really feeling like I wanted to clean some dirty dishes. So I popped up from my spot in the living room and got to work. Oddly enough, all the dishes that needed washing were in the sink Clay was standing by. And Clay, being the gentleman he is, was very quick to offer me help. I wasn't going to say no :). We spent the whole night talking, laughing and falling harder for each other with every chilly minute that passed in the warmth of each others presence. He felt like home. When we finally had to part ways, I knew this wouldn't be the last time we'd be seeing each other and I was right, but not in the way I had initially expected... That next day I went to open my iPad and to my surprise there was Clay with a goofy grin on my lock screen. I realized our friends from the party had taken a picture of him with my iPad and set it as the background. When I looked up from the screen I caught myself smiling ear to ear in the mirror across my living room. Seeing his picture filled with the same warmth spending time with him had brought me the night before. I liked that feeling so much I think I kept him as my background for long after that day, so even if I had wanted to forget about Clay, I couldn't have.

I knew I wanted to marry Tess almost embarrassingly early in our relationship – so I knew that when the proposal happened, I had to do it right. After dating for a few months we’d both made our intentions clear, and we went to look at rings so I could get an idea of what she wanted. The goal was to ask her to go ring shopping early enough so that she wouldn’t be expecting it when the proposal happened, but not too early to have her think I was crazy. This was, admittedly, a fine line. We went to a Kay Jewelers at a mall near Tess’ old apartment, but were too awkward make any head way, so we headed across the street to get some margaritas at the On The Border. We came back with our liquid courage and found a design that Tess loved, and I stored that info away until I would need it later. Fast forward another 10 months and we’re home in Kansas visiting my family. I had my folks running cover for me while I went to Mark’s Jewelers in Lawrence. I told the gal behind the counter what I was looking for and she got to work on building a custom setting. Living in Michigan and having the ring made in Kansas was a little stressful, but after a few 3D printed drafts were mailed to me to review – we found the perfect design. PSA – if you buy your ring in another state and have it mailed to you, you may not have to pay sales tax! The ring was finished and ready to be delivered in Early June – right as I was heading over to Italy for a work trip. I remember losing sleep thinking about the ring sitting in the hands of some government postal workers and buying insurance at about 2 AM local time to help ease my mind. As soon as I got home, I rushed to the post office and with trembling hands unpackaged the ring that was about to change my life – but I still had to hide it for another week.

For a summer vacation, Tess and I headed up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we hiked, camped, went to wineries, and recreated our first trip together. This whole time I had her ring burning a hole in my pocket. Knowing Tess would want to celebrate with the people she loved, I had the Bradley’s, my family and a couple of Tess’ best friends plan to meet us at an AirBnB by Sleeping Bear Dunes for a surprise engagement party after I popped the question. I also knew Tess would want to first celebrate with her sister, Shirley, so I enlisted her to be the photographer to capture the moment…and she absolutely outdid herself. As we pulled up to Stop Number 9 of Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, a place we had taken photos on our first vacation the winter before, we made our way up to the dunes for the main event. Shirley had staked out two potential places for the proposal. It was perfect. I pride myself on being a good public speaker, but as I took both of Tess’ hands and attempted to recite the thoughtful sentiment I’d prepared, I blacked out and don’t remember anything I said as I got down on my knee. Tess met me on the sand as she squatted down in excitement and I nearly fumbled the ring as I shakily put it on her finger. We kissed, hugged and gave a thumbs up the some cheering onlookers who were at an overlook a couple hundred yards away. Tess and I then sat on the dunes overlooking Lake Michigan and it literally felt like we were on top of the world. As we made our way down to the AirBnB everyone was waiting at, Tess kept saying “I don’t know how today could get any better”. As we pulled up on the AirBnB on Crystal Lake, our families hid inside and pulled off the last surprise of the day. It was incredible to sit back and watch our families intertwine and to see the person I loved as happy as I’d ever seen her. We celebrated with Champagne and Bourbon, and topped the night off with the most incredible sunset we'd ever seen.