Returning to Spring of 2015 in Mr. Etzweiler's 8th-grade advanced science class. The class was picking new seats and we were going alphabetically and of course, Lena was one of the last to pick her seat. She was supposed to sit with her friends, but they were before her and chose seats by themselves. When it came to Lenas turn there was only one spot left... next to Kyle. As the days turned to weeks a mutual crush began to form for these two. Every day in class Lena and Kyle would talk, mess around, hide each other's folders, and just be goobers with one another. Eventually, when Lena was backstage at her Spring Dance concert with Ashland Regional Ballet she had her friend text Kyle from her phone to ask if Kyle liked her, and if he did that he should ask her out.. Oh, the strange things 14-year-olds do when they have a crush haha. Of course, Kyle did like Lena, and not too long after that he asked Lena if she would like to be his girlfriend. 9 years later these two love birds are now planning their wedding!

After a lot of speculation and anticipation, June 6th 2023 at the Austin Boardwalk in Austin, Texas Kyle got down on one knee, and asked, "Lena Elizabeth Watson, will you marry me?". To which she replied through tears of joy, "You did it!! Yes, yes, yes". Once the ring was on, and tears started to slow down Kyle took a big sigh of relief as he had had the ring since April of that year! He was so excited to finally be able to share everything with Lena, it was so hard for him to keep it a secret for so long. Prior to his proposal, he had multiple plans that had fallen through. While Lena was still in school she was working at Zoo Knoxville on the event staff. Lena shared with Kyle that her crew did proposals **Wink Wink** and he had taken it to heart. He had a plan to propose to her one day while she was at work. But once the semester and Lenas college career quickly was coming to a close, the time for this plan had slipped from Kyles grasp. When Lena was getting ready to graduate from Lincoln Memorial University, he hatched another plan. To propose to her on her graduation day. When that momentous day came, while Lena was at the arena with the other Spring 2023 graduates, Kyle took the time to show both families the ring with the full intention of bringing it to graduation and proposing with the family present. When the time to head to the arena came... He was too excited and left the ring on his desk at his apartment. After graduation it was time for these two to pack for their big move to Texas. Just two short weeks after graduation they began the biggest journey of their lives together. Unbeknowsnt to Lena, the ring was hidden within Kyles desk the whole time. When they got to their new home, they had movers to assist them unloading the UHaul, but Kyles desk needed to be disassembled in order to fit into his office. Lena was just trying to help by removing items from the desk drawers as Kyle (with his nerves skyrocketing) was working on dissasembling the desk. At one point Lena left the room, Kyle seized the oportunity to tell the movers, "Y'all there is an engagement ring in *this* drawer, PLEASE help me keep her away from it." Luckily the desk got moved and the ring remained a secret for now. Finally, about 2 weeks after they moved in together, Kyle was ready to make it official, he asked Lena if she would like to go on a date night to this really neat boardwalk overlooking a lake and the city. He even picked a really good indian restaurant they could go to for dinner. Lena had suspected tonight might be the night, so she made sure to paint her nails. As Kyle was getting ready for their date, he calls Lena just to make sure she got her nails done... He had no idea he basically had just told her that he was proposing that night. When they reached the boardwalk, Lena then wanted to see the Austin Bats coming out of the famous bridge at sunset. The couple walked the entirety of the boardwalk to wait for the bats until dark. They didn't show.. So the couple rented electric scooters to go back to a really nice overlook of the river before they left to head home. Here Kyle hugged her from behind, as they looked at the city lights reflecting on the water. She could feel his heart racing in his chest. He backed away from her, asked her to turn around for just a minute. And when she did, she saw Kyle on one knee, ready to finish what he had started almost 2 months ago. We are so excited to share our story with you all, and can't wait to celebrate our love story with everyone.