A Day to Remember

We met our freshman year at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. We both took the same French class, however, he had the class before me. I would show up early and he would tell me what we did that day in class. We never talked other than that. Little did we know that we lived in the same dorm and had mutual friends! Fast forward 3 years later to the summer before our Senior year. I was at the gym and posted a picture on my Snapchat story ( a social media platform) asking for workout advice/routines. Drake commented on my photo and gave me some very helpful tips. We continued talking via text message for the next few days, nonstop. A week before my birthday, he asked me out for coffee at a local place downtown Knoxville. I was very nervous because, to be honest, I didn't remember who he was. When we get to the coffee shop, I find him sitting outside reading How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I found that very attractive. After the awkward hellos and oh i remember yous, we went inside and ordered coffee. I made the grave mistake of ordering a coffee with cayenne peppers in it. If you know me, you know that I CANNOT handle super spicy things. But I didn't want to look like a wuss so I drank it. After a couple of hours talking, we decided to grab some ramen which turned into going to an arcade and seeing who can win at air hockey (which I did). Afterwards, we went our separate ways but continued talking. A week later, my 21st birthday arrived and I was so excited! I had this whole plan of hitting the town with my friends and celebrating my birthday. However, at the very last minute, every single one of my friends bailed on me. After almost giving up hope, Drake told me that He would be happy to take me out. So we went to a place called The Old City in Knoxville and danced the night away. That also happened to be the night we had our first kiss. Ever since then, we have been inseparable.

It was an EXTREMELY hot weekend in Columbus, MS. Drake had already moved down there to start his pilot training in the US Air Force. I decided to come down to visit him for the weekend because it had been far too long since we had last seen each other. A little back story: Ever since our coffee date back in June 2022, we had been going steady through our entire senior year. After graduation, I got a job working for Disney in Orlando, FL while Drake was still in Knoxville, waiting to leave for Pilot Training in Columbus, MS. After 3 months of working at Disney, I realized that it was not the place for me and not where I wanted to be. So I packed up my things, and moved back home with my parents in Tennessee. Unsure of what God had planned for me next, the one thing I did know was that I wanted to be with Drake and he wanted to be with me. So, I decided to make a weekend trip down to Columbus to visit him. On Saturday August 12, we planned to go take pictures at a botanical garden in Jackson MS. It was 105 degrees outside but we were determined. So we drove 3 hours to Jackson, and stopped at a local brewery, played a couple card games, grabbed coffee and some pizza. Then we headed to the gardens. Little did we know, the gardens were closed on saturdays. Drake seemed particularly frazzled by this inconvenience and was determined to find another spot. I, completely oblivious to his plan, was just trying to make sure my hair looked okay. After driving around Jackson for about an hour, we found this cute little art garden next to a gas station. We got out of the car, walked around the garden to the back to find a place to take the pictures but before I could set up my phone, Drake stopped me and grabbed my hands. After fighting through tears and reading the speech he had mentally prepared, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES! Immediately afterwards, the sprinklers came on and we got soaked! Although the day didn't go as originally planned, it couldn’t have been more perfect. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you there!