Our Engagement Story {by Matt}

Girls turn out to be more expensive than first thought.......

Grooms Log: Dated March 14, 2010. 8 AM

-I know that I want to marry this woman, I have for a while, but where do I even begin searching for a ring. What are the 4 C's, what do they mean (could they possibly mean Cake, Cheesecake, Cookies, Cola, and Carbs?) and how will I know what Jamie wants? I need to answer these questions before I begin searching for a ring, but my goal in all of this is complete and utter surprise. She can't even suspect this will happen. (*i hate surprises)

Grooms Log: Dated March 15th, 2010. 4 PM

- So now I have called Jamie's best friend, Haley, and gotten an idea of what she wants. Now is the time for a daily search for the perfect ring. Let the "bling" searching begin.

Grooms Log: Dated March 22, 2010. 9 PM

-I have been looking for over a week...is it really this expensive to buy a tiny piece of stupid rock that's been sitting thousands of feet down in the earth's crust just to harden and become somewhat clear(Refer to 4 C's)? Apparently so. Daily conference calls with Haley still a priority because of the difficulty of this task.

Grooms Log: Dated March 26, 2010. 3 PM

-I have found it! The perfect stone, the perfect ring, and the perfect price. Now to wait until it is ready so I can propose THIS WEEKEND.

Grooms Log: Dated April 3, 2010. 12 PM


Jamie's best friend Haley is here in Columbia helping me set up the back yard of my parents house, while Jamie is at the church painting faces at the Easter Egg Hunt being held there. I have set up a brick pathway leading to a bench set up around the corner of the house, out of sight. Pictures are lined along the pathway in chronological order from the time we started dating to the most recent picture of us in East Asia on a Vision trip. The last picture, however, is blank, with a question mark in the center of it. Everything is in place.

Grooms Log: Dated April 3rd, 2010. 2 PM

- We are now engaged! I was waiting on the bench at the end of the path with the ring in my pocket. Jamie came home with my sister-in-law Lauren and my Mom. As they were heading up the stairs they directed Jamie to heed the sign with her name on it and an arrow pointing in the direction of the brick pathway. She walked down the pathway, looking at the pictures, hands on her face, wearing a look of complete surprise. I asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with me, and she said "yes". To top it all off, she had no idea her best friend was there, and as we were walking to tell everyone the news, she was standing there ready to take a picture of us, the newly engaged couple. Jamie was completely surprised, yet again, and we spent the rest of the day calling family and friends and relaying the good news!

April 3, 2010

Captains Log: Dated May 3, 2010. 2:06 PM

-Who knew wedding planning took so much time?

Our engagement pictures taken in Franklin, TN

* Read Haley's story of our engagement!!!!