It all began junior year of high school. We met at a school beautification event and began talking. Eventually, 6 months later we started dating. After graduating high school we began our 5 year long distance relationship. Jonny joined the National Guard and went off to basic training and AIT while I went to college. We wrote letters to each other every single day. The following fall he went to Tennessee Tech University and I was at Austin Peay. We had talked about getting married but he always told me he didn’t want to until he was 26 so I always thought it would be closer to 10 years of dating before we were getting married. Usually for New Years we always went to downtown Nashville but both agreed we didn’t want to deal with the crowd so he suggested taking a trip to Myrtle Beach this year. All he wanted to do was watch the sun rise on New Year’s Day from the east coast. I thought it was an odd request but we had never been to the beach together so I said of course. We spent New Year’s Eve at the market common’s because they were having a concert like Nashville just a lot smaller. We stayed up late then woke up early to go watch the sun rise. It was very misty and cold that morning and after waiting 15-20 minutes for the sun to rise I kept saying I don’t think the sun is coming up. Jonny kept saying just 5 more minutes-it will come up. His sister came on the trip as well and she kept hinting to him to just do it since the sun wasn’t coming up. I was looking out at the ocean and she said, alright let’s go back inside so I turned around and there he was on one knee. I was in shock because I thought it would be a few more years before we would get engaged. I of course said yes!
Being engaged took some time to get used to. We were so used to saying boyfriend/girlfriend, fiancé took a minute to get down. He has always been romantic when it came to special events whether buying me flowers or taking me out for a nice dinner. Just knowing that we get to spend the rest of our lives together makes me so happy. After graduating college Jonny was commissioned as a 2LT in the U.S. Army and that leads to more training. Being yet again separated does make wedding planning kind of difficult but we are making it happen. We try to get as much planned as possible when he is able to be home.
Jonny picked my ring by himself. I didn’t know till months later that he chose the 3-stone diamond because of the meaning behind it: past, present, and future. When I found that out it made me cry a little more because of how sweet it was. He could not have done a better job! He is my best friend and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him!
