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Ryan and my story . . .
Ryan and I met at Chili's Restaurant on March 7, 2006. I was eating there after a pageant with a group of sorority sisters and Ryan was working there as a server. My Grand Big Sis in AOII, Carrie, was with us and she was a hostess at Chili's, so she introduced us to all the people that worked there. I remember Ryan rushing by with chips and salsa for one of his tables and he had such a big smile on his face. He seemed like a nice guy, and he was cute, too! So, when he came over to our table to talk to Carrie and all of us, I asked him if he would go with our friend, Claire, to AOII formal because her date had cancelled. We even showed him a picture of her- haha. He said yes and they had a good time, but just as friends.
Time went by.....
Our first "date" happened to be with Carrie, my Grand Big, at Nihon Express. Then we went to McAlister's one Sunday night-just the two of us, and realized that we had a lot in common. We went on multiple dates after that . . . to Outback, to the movies, to get ice cream, and lots more. The sweetest thing Ryan ever did for me in the beginning stages of our relationship was sit through a three hour beauty pageant, just to watch me sing two songs. I was the "entertainment" for the "REACH for a Cure Pageant." He stayed the whole time, as well as his poor friend Kyle. Ryan sat in the front row and cheered and clapped for me. I think he even stood up! My friends made fun of him that night because he kept saying how "INCREDIBLE" I was. I knew that he must really like me and that he was something special if he sat through that miserable pageant for me, when I didn't even ask him to.
It was sad to leave to go home that summer, because we had just started dating. Little did I know that Ryan would call me almost EVERY DAY we were apart! We talked about everything and it was so exciting. I told all my friends that I would have a boyfriend when I got back to Auburn . . . he was telling his friends that he would have a girlfriend pretty soon, too!
Finally, on the evening of September 19, 2006 Ryan brought me a red rose and we took a walk from the hill dorms to the beautiful quad and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Of course, I said yes . . . and the rest is history :)
The Proposal
I knew that Ryan had asked my dad for my hand in marriage in July and that the proposal was supposed to happen in early fall,but I didn't think he even had a ring! I also told him that there was no way he would be able to surprise me. Well, he took this as a challenge!
It was the last week of August and school had just started. I got an email from my good friend Whitney, saying that we were having a reunion dinner with our group of 15 friends on Tuesday, August 26 at Amsterdam's, since we hadn't seen each other all summer. The fifteen of us had a blast at dinner catching up. After that, Cate and Whitney said to pile into only two cars. I had no clue what we were doing, but assumed that no one else did either. When we pulled up to Samford Hall, the most beautiful and historical building on Auburns campus, I was excited because I LOVE Samford! It took me a little while to notice that there were rose petals all over the sidewalk leading to the front of Samford. I figured that someone had planned something special for us. It wasn't until someone gave me a little push and told me to "take a little walk" that I realized what was happening. I started following the rose petals and was crying and just completely freaking out!
Finally I saw Ryan standing there in the moonlight- he was so handsome all dressed up in his suit. He had skipped formal rush for his fraternity to surprise me. We kissed and hugged awkwardly because we were both nervous. Then he told me that he didn't believe that everyone had one soul mate that they were supposed to spend their lives with until we met and he fell in love with me. He knew that we were meant to be together. He also said that the reason we were in front of Samford Hall was because he knew how much Samford Hall and Auburn mean to me. He said that Auburn hadn't meant all that much to him until he met me here.
After that, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course, I said yes and he slipped the most beautiful ring on my finger. Then, all my friends ran out from the bushes to say congrats. We were all crying, hugging, and taking pictures. I could not believe that fourteen girls had known what was going on that night and that I didn't find out! Ryan was so smart to ask me on a Tuesday night, because I only had to keep it a secret for one day. I called my closest friends and family Tuesday night, and Ryan and I picked up my best friend Liza to secretly tell her, since she's the Candelight chair. She helped to organize the ceremony at our chapter meeting. I had to hide the ring in my room all of Wednesday, which was SO hard. It was so exciting getting to announce my engagement to all my AOII sisters!