We met at a retreat for incoming Freshmen at St. Mary's our Sophomore Year. Annie Carnegie (my partner at the retreat, Kim's good friend... who is now Annie Elliot) introduced us while I goofed around doing made-up absurd get-to-know-you questions, and Kim came by singing high pitched notes about how Annie was so awesome. After the retreat, we started Sophomore year and had a couple classes together. We were just friends that studied Mechanical Engineering together at first. By studied, I mean Kim would work iterations of projects over and over a week and a half before they were due, and coached/fact-checked me as I submitted them on phone scans a minute after midnight. We bonded for a year over homemade pug cakes and the Zachry Leadership Program. I started developing a crush, and after months of badgering Kim, she finally said yes to date. A little over 2 years later (warning: spoilers ahead), she said yes again when I proposed.

If you couldn't tell by how we met, I'm not the planning type. That being said, this proposal was a strategist's dream. I had every piece in place after about 3 months of planning. Kim and I had discussed the future, prayed about it, and got to know each other over 2 years of dating and 3 years of friendship, 2Rob (Kim's Dad) gave me permission to go ahead, I bought the ring with based off ideas from Kim and articles from Buzzfeed, the photographer was there, and Kim's nails were done. The story was, we were meeting my cousin for dinner in NOLA and I wanted to go on a day date with Kim before. We were already going to the LSU v. A&M Football game, so we had time and there was minimal suspicion. Traffic went about 2 hours longer than anticipated because of accidents and fires, but we pulled up at 4:30 pm and I had the photographer till 5 pm in Downtown NOLA (the most agonizing 7-hour drive ever). As I walked pulling Kim over to the marked spot on the ground where the photographer and I picked to take the picture, we stopped as St. Louis Cathedral was in the background and Kim claimed, "I know you're not doing it now, but if you proposed to me, this would be the perfect place," I faked a grimace, apologized, and 60 yards to the right of that spot there was an "X" on the ground. The words coming out of Kim's mouth went as follows: "Ryan why are you asking people to move?" "Ryan why is there an X on the ground?" "Ryan what are you grabbing out of your boot?" "Ryan...WHAT???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I proceeded to tell her I wanted to pursue sainthood with her and make little saint babies, and asked, but she wouldn't let me finish - she said yes! We took pictures, cried a little, went on a mule-drawn carriage, face-timed friends, and met up with our families at the restaurant K-Paul's, then listened to jazz in the Ritz Carlton till 2 in the morning. It was a perfect day for a perfect girl that I get to spend the rest of my life with.