How We Met

Andrew and I met in the summer of 2015 at Auburn University. I was taking summer classes and he was staying in Auburn doing an internship. In May 2015, I was living with friends for a week while my apartment was getting repaired. The second night that I was staying with my friends in their apartment, Andrew walked in. He lived two floors above the apartment I was staying in and came by to say hi and hangout with his friends.

When he walked in, I immediately became interested in who he was and I took notice of how funny and attractive he was. During that week of living with my friends, Andrew would come by every night after work. After class I would become anxious and excited for Andrew to get off work and visit us on his way to his apartment.

One night we sat at the table outside of his apartment and talked for hours. At the end of the week, I didn’t want to move out. For the rest of the summer we spent most nights talking on the porch for hours about life, our goals and just sharing funny stories with each other. The stories he told really illustrated his love for God and his appreciation for his friends and family. I realized that Andrew was the kind of man I wanted to be with. In fact, I felt almost nervous about how quickly I was falling for him.

We both agree now that sitting there at that table is when we first realized our feelings for each other. The rest of that summer was spent most of our free time together meeting each other friend’s, exploring Auburn and really just developing an even stronger connection. Andrew claims that I show him every day what joy is. In return, he has shown me to enjoy the small things in life. He helps ground me and leads me to silence my anxieties and trust God’s will. We both agree that summer was the best summer.

how they asked

I can not think of a proposal that defines Andrew and I as a couple any more than how they asked me that afternoon on top of Max Patch mountain. We love all things nature, animals, and frolicking with our friends so this was the most perfect weekend for us. Andrew and I had discussed several times throughout our relationship that we wanted to go camping specifically in the magical mountains at Max Patch, North Carolina (on the Appalachian trail). But it was my clever fiancé (boyfriend at the time) who planted the idea in my head that we should drive 5 hours to go camping with our best friends, in the cold off-season I’ll add, in order to celebrate my 22nd birthday.

I should mention I hate being the center of attention, therefore I dread being celebrated on my birthday but somehow Andrew convinced me we should make the trip. Little did I know he had been planning every detail of this weekend for the past two months and convincing me to celebrate my birthday with a camping trip in the mountains was only part of his master plan.

So! Max Patch is 5 hours from Auburn, which is a long drive to only go camping for the weekend, so I was surprised that so many of our friends were able to go camping with us that weekend.19 people to be exact. The week leading up to my birthday I became anxious about driving all the way to Max Patch for such a short trip. I felt overwhelmed that so many of our friends were so willing to drive so far just to celebrate my birthday! (I have the best friends in the entire world obviously).

The week flew by and Friday came so we packed up our camping gear and began our journey. Andrew was carrying a round cardboard box with him that he informed me contained my birthday present inside and that I was not allowed to open it until the following day. He told me that he had been secretly making my birthday gift for the past 2 weeks and I was curious so I couldn’t resist shaking it, the box was surprisingly heavy. I remember thinking, “I hope its garden spade and seeds,” Andrew knows I love to garden. But later I found out this heavy box was another attempt to throw me off, he later showed me it was filled with bricks and I was so impressed with the details of his secret plan.

We headed to North Carolina and of course stopped in a field at sunset – I love fields and it was a wonderful frolic break from our 5 hour drive. Later we ended up arriving after dark and spent 45 minutes wandering around the side of the mountain looking for a flat, non windy spot to camp… We ended up settling our camp site on top to the bald because we could not find anywhere flat to set up our campsite, but it ended up being the perfect spot. That night the sky was so clear with stars, that I remember thinking to myself ” this is stunning, I don’t think I have ever camped under so many clear stars” I was overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded me.

The next morning we all woke up surrounded by the mountains, I remember feeling so blessed that I got to spend this perfect weekend with all of my favorite people – this place was even better than I could have imagined.

After admiring God’s great creation, we all cooked breakfast, and explored the bald, hiking, frolicking, and taking mass amounts of pictures. I sat next to Andrew at breakfast and didn’t even notice he was nervous, I was completely oblivious to the entire situation. Shortly after that, we “decided” to go back to the bald and play baseball with a stick and tennis ball that we had found. Little did I know this was all orchestrated perfectly – down to taking me to the bald to be distracted while Andrew carried out his net part of the plan.

I had an absolute blast, literally no idea what was happening the whole time. But I did notice Andrew had been gone for some time and when asked some of my friends where he was, they said he was changing a flat tire at the bottom of the mountain, so I didn’t think twice about it. Two hours went by and I continued to run around and hangout with my friends – completely unknowing that what would happen next would change my life forever. Next thing I knew I heard my friend Tim say, “Hey Andy!” and I became felt so excited that Andrew was coming back (missed him already). I turned and looked at Andrew and was so confused, at first I thought he was carrying at log but then as I got closer and saw Andrew’s big proud smile I realized it was a baby goat! I was out of my mind excited, I remember I started freaking out and saying “Are you serious?! Is this real?!” I thought there was no way this goat was actually mine when Andrew said, “Happy birthday Alli J, he’s yours!” I was beyond confused as to where Andrew had gotten a goat but I figured that he had bought it somehow in the parking lot…

Then the most incredible, life changing, thing happened… Andrew set him down for me to hug and pet and he said, “Alli J look at his name!” his voice was shaky and I could tell he was so nervous but I still didn’t understand what was happening. I looked at the silver dog tag around his neck and it read “Will you marry me?” I freaked out. I burst out in tears and without even pausing to say yes I said, “Andrew! Are you serious?!” and at that point he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course, I kissed him and nodded my head, crying too many tears of joy to say the word “yes” and he put the ring on my finger.

I was yet again overwhelmed with JOY. At this point all of our friends and my sweet fiancé were excited and relieved that everything went so perfectly and all that was left to do was celebrate!