We met at a Christian gap year program called Impact 360 Institute. This program transformed both of our lives as it taught us how to know Christ better and more effectively reach others for his kingdom. Little did we know that this program would end up blessing us with the gift of each other. During our time we got to know each other first as friends and eventually started seeing characteristics of someone we would like to spend the rest of our lives with! Since then, our friendship has only grown deeper as we have grown more in love with each other and with Christ.

Trying to truly surprise Samantha with getting engaged proved to be significantly more difficult than I anticipated. I am very fond of small displays of affection and gifts. With that said, for me to curate an entire day and not just plan everything in the moment with her knowing we were getting engaged soon, would have been a dead giveaway. Through months of careful planning and God’s grace, I succeeded in her not realizing right up until the moment we got engaged. So I started by laying the groundwork and convincing her we couldn't get engaged before the summer. More than a year in advance, I was telling Sam, to her frustration, that I wanted a short engagement. While this was initially true, I eventually realized it was the perfect aversion. I started donating plasma to pay for the ring around August 2022. This felt like the perfect way to save up. It was fast, flexible money for a college student and I could say that her ring had a “blood diamond” which I love. I told Sam that to get enough money, I would need her to donate plasma as well or it wouldn’t be possible to save up enough for the ring because the plasma centers have a cap on the money you can make. She had no problem with this but, luckily, was much too busy with nursing school to feasibly donate any plasma. Now and then I would mention how she might want to donate soon but I never pushed too hard. By using two different donation centers, I was able to save up enough for both the engagement and wedding band. By December of 2022, I had the rings. Fully custom and gorgeous, I remember tearing up the first time I opened the box knowing it was exactly what she wanted. It was also around this time that I started working on the ring box. It's a tradition in my family for the ring box to be handmade with the help of my Granddad. I built the box out of a cypress knee that I dug up and worked on it periodically over the next two months. I had told Samantha we should do days where one of us plans the whole day out for the other—just something sweet and intentional to make the other feel loved. Samantha had already done hers, so it was my turn. At this point, she wouldn’t have suspected us getting engaged early until I got down on one knee. Around a month before the engagement, I really started working on all the logistics of what the day would be like and how I was going to set everything up. Unrelated to the engagement, we had planned a cruise during spring break with our roommates so I thought it would be fun to make it an engagement trip. I needed an excuse for me and Sam to go home two days before the cruise even though it would inconvenience everyone. Luckily, my brother's birthday fell on that weekend and I just had to go home to celebrate with him. I told her roommates to make sure they all went and got their nails done right before the cruise. I contacted a family friend who makes cakes out of this quaint little pink house in Pine Mountain and asked if we could stop by for desserts on the day of the engagement. I got another friend of mine to find a way to drive into a massive inaccessible field in Callaway that me and Sam had visited not long after we met. I had Sam’s sister plan to come to Pine Mountain that weekend to take pictures after we got engaged. I wrote a note explaining everything I had planned over the last year that I would read to her right before pulling the ring out. Finally, everything was planned and in place. I had intentionally not perfectly planned out everything as I thought she might have caught on and about half of what we did that day was decided in the moment. As I lay in bed the night before our engagement, I remember thinking about everything I had put into it. It was difficult and frankly sucked not sharing all of it with Sam. I just hoped above anything that it had been worth it (spoiler, it was)

I had no idea what was going to happen that day. When Tucker says he surprised me, he did! Because of the timing of our spring break cruise and Cason’s birthday, we stayed in Pine Mountain the day before leaving. This worked out perfectly as it was Tucker's turn to take me on my "hometown day date." First, we woke up and went to eat at a local restaurant called Eddie May's Kitchen. Then as we were driving back to his house we spontaneously decided to stop by Impact 360 Institute where we attended our gap year program. It was so special to reminisce on such a transformative year for us both together and separately. After we were back at his house, Tucker convinced me that it could be fun to dress up and hang out in town. He said he had "no plans" but thought it could be something fun for us both to enjoy. I was not keen on this idea at first as I knew we were about to head into a week full of activities during spring break. As soon as I started to get ready though, I forgot entirely about how odd it was that Tucker was the one trying to convince me to dress up and not visa versa. As we headed into town, Tucker announced again that he did not have anything planned for my "date day" but thought it could be fun to have a charcuterie picnic for lunch. I agreed with him and we set out to find what we would need for the day. We went to the local Super Valu grocery store and found everything except a board to place our food on. Conveniently, there was a shop next door that happened to be a sort of 'charcuterie store' that had everything we needed and more. They had the most beautiful selection of wooden boards. The one we chose will now be used forever with the memory of our engagement. After we had all that we needed, Tucker suggested we go to visit a local farm nearby. I agreed to this not knowing that this was never part of his plan. On our way, we happened to pass by what I fondly know as "the pink house." As Tucker passed the house I turned my head to admire it as I always do. This is when Tucker noticed the owner's car outside and asked if I wanted to swing by so we could ask to peek inside. I said no at first because I did not want to intrude on whatever she had going on that day. Tucker said that was fine and continued to drive past...somehow knowing that I would change my mind just as quickly as I had made it up. I mean... who could refuse an opportunity to see inside the pink house?! We pulled in and the owner opened the door seeming quite surprised to see us (Tucker was a family friend). She invited us in explaining she was not prepared for guests but were welcome to look around. Little did I know, she was actually expecting us to come and had even prepared cake for us. So there I was absolutely freaking out inside as Tucker and I sat drinking coffee and eating cake in this quaint little house. Next, we went to Callaway Gardens where Tucker brought me to a field of 100,000 tulip flowers. It was beyond dreamy. Then we went to the butterfly gardens and were surrounded by all kinds of butterflies and large plants. After this we decided we were hungry and would find a spot for our picnic. We looked at a few options and then decided to go to an empty field in Callaway. We set up our food, ate, and reminisced about the day. I even mentioned how the day had been so perfect that I felt bad for when he was going to propose in July. I knew he wouldn't be able to top it so thank goodness he didn't have to. I did notice though that Tucker did not eat that much. (now I know that this was because he was nervous) Tucker then suggested that we get up to "take a picture" in the middle of the field. When we were taking the picture, I put my hand on his chest and immediately felt his heart beating SO FAST. This is the moment when I started to have my suspicions...took me long enough I know. He said he wanted to take one more and started videoing. Tucker then said he had a letter to read to me which led to the easiest yes of my life!