It all goes back to November 18th, 2020! I was in Lakeland for an appearance as Miss Florida and last-minute got invited by Maddie Park to attend Grace City Church's annual Friendsgiving. Grayson worked on staff at Grace City Church and was pursuing his MBA at Southeastern University. Grayson and I didn't plan to be in Lakeland at this time in our life. But, the pandemic altered our plans as I became a second-year Miss Florida and Grayson decided to stay in Lakeland to pursue his MBA. So if it weren't for COVID, we may have never met! We instantly hit it off after we were introduced to each other. Little did I know that Grayson was actually interested in meeting back in September 2020 after seeing a picture on me on my birthday. Although he wanted to reach out that day, he felt the Lord say, "Wait, it's not time yet." At first, we both didn't expect anything out of meeting each other, as I had pursuits of moving out of state when we met. But, the Lord was so clear and faithful from the beginning of our love story and all previous plans took a back seat to believing God was leading us to each other. On January 23, 2021, we started dating... and the rest is history!

Grayson came up with the most genius plan to surprise me on the most special day of my life thus far. Grayson's family is in the boating and yacht industry, and his brother, Sean Wilkes, owns his own creative agency for videography. Sean told me he needed a couple for a boat shoot near Fort Myers to capture commercial content for a boat. I quickly signed Grayson and I up and honestly didn't think much of it. I even signed a fake contract... I was convinced! After Sean docked the boat at Lover's Key to get "walking shots on the beach", Grayson led me into a private trail lined with roses and pictures. He then got down on one knee and I screamed "YES!" Little did I know that both our families were able to catch glimpses of the moment out on a boat! As if the evening could get any better, Grayson then surprised me with over 60 family and friends at his house for a celebratory engagement party! We spent the weekend in Naples celebrating this new season of love, joy and laughter! We are so excited to celebrate this next chapter of our lives with you all. See you at the Howey Mansion!