JR and I met at a local spot in my neighborhood when he was in town for work. I intended on watching the Clemson football game but ended up in conversation with him instead. The next day, he called me saying he suddenly had to come back to Tennessee that weekend for a scrimmage at Austin Peay & asked if he could take me out. I didn't find out for a while, but he completely made the scrimmage up. I was a little unsure if I wanted to go out with him since I knew this could be a long-distance situation, but my roommate Brittany convinced me that it couldn't hurt. So after the fake scrimmage (Austin Peay won in case you were wondering), we listened to Brittany perform at Belcourt Taps and then met his friends from Ohio U, Matt & Stefanye Britain, who happened to be my neighbors. Over the next handful of weeks, I introduced him to my friends and sisters to get their approvals and then met him in Ohio to meet his friends and family. Our relationship took off from there. I lived in the middle of his work territory, so over the first two years, he found ways to make stops in Nashville, and I spent many weekends meeting him on the road or in Cincinnati. The distance had its fair share of challenges, but the time we spent together allowed our appreciation to grow for one another. Some of our favorite memories together include: -Grilling & hanging out with friends and family -Kayaking in Vero Beach, Florida -Tailgating in Iowa City -Nashville Predators games -Exploring the state of Oregon (Bend, Portland, The Coast & the Willamette Valley) -NFL, Cincinnati Reds & college basketball games -Hiking & walking the trails At some point, we had to figure us out. Nashville has always been home for me, and JR was settled in Cincinnati. Figuring out who was moving was an answer that changed by the week for nearly a year. Eventually, JR sold his condo in Cincinnati, and the roommate that convinced me to go out with him sold him his first home as a Nashville resident.

My thought going into all of this was that I did not want to hit the road for work the day after proposing. I wanted it to be a special time for everybody involved & most importantly the bride to be. The week of the proposal, I went to pick up the ring from our friends, Ally & Steve, who had held onto the ring for nearly 2.5 months. Hands shaking & heart pumping…I was so excited. For the next few days I could not sit still. Saturday could not come soon enough. My plan was to go hiking at Radnor Lake State Park and surprise Megan afterwards with an engagement party. Megan’s plan was to go to the gym, work on house projects and watch football. The temperature for Saturday kept dropping and Megan’s push back was definitely growing. I was persistent & ended up on top. The morning of the proposal Megan attended her usual workout classes. This was perfect and gave me some time to put the ring in my jacket pocket, clean the house & pack the Yeti cooler full of some good ideas. It turned out to be a little chilly and the state park was a little busier than I had planned. There were definitely some good spots to propose but there was this guy that just wouldn’t get out of the way. So we veered up a path to a beautiful spot that overlooked the lake. I got down on one knee & proposed. She excitedly said yes. We were obviously both on cloud nine. We then went back to my house where many of our friends & her family were waiting for the surprise. The response was overwhelming... big thanks to Kenzie and Kathi for their much needed help.