Kelsey and I met at Wichita State University while working as lifeguards together on Friday mornings. On a Friday morning at 0615, I'm sitting in the lifeguard office waiting for the pool to open. I'm not awake yet but the other lifeguard on duty is fully caffeinated. This was how I came to know and love Kelsey Louise.

After finding the perfect ring, I attempted to plan the proposal. I wanted to have pictures taken of the proposal, but I needed to find the perfect place for the event. The first option was Botanica but finding someone to take pictures when the event was set to go down was difficult. The next option was a picnic at the pond by my house but there was not a good place for someone to hide and take pictures! Danie, one of her bridesmaids, and her boyfriend Matt were coming into town from Illinois and I wanted to take a trip out to Grace Hill Winery and propose out there and have Danie present for the event. This plan was then foiled by Matt proposing to Danie the day before I planned my proposal! Ultimately, I wanted the event to be a surprise to Kelsey, she had some suspicions. So, the following week after our dinner/movie date I took her home then drove back to my place and picked up the ring. I called her on the drive back to her house and told her not to go to bed yet! She had to get up for work at 0515 for work the next morning. She started asking a lot of questions about why, I told her that there was blood everywhere! ...Somebody had hit an animal earlier on in the night and there was blood all over the road. She was preoccupied with concerns until I arrived at her house and told her to come outside. She was all ready for bed, she had on pajamas and her retainers in place. She came outside and started asking if everything was okay. I simply said yes and that I needed to do something. I pulled a stuffed dog out from behind my back, the ring was on the dog’s scarf, got down on one knee in the middle of her driveway, under the moonlight, and asked her if she would marry me. She said yes! And then started crying.