6 years ago!

It started off as a normal Saturday in a weekend that I was visiting my sweetie.  On Friday night, Ryan and I went out on a date and waited an insane amount of time to eat at Cheesecake Factory.  Then I spent the night with my favorite TX family, the Shupes.  

On Saturday morning, I sat around the table with them and we talked and talked.  It was such a fun morning.  I was supposed to meet Ryan for a lunch date with some friends, but was running late due to me being chatty.  

Ryan wanted me to meet him at the church where we met.  This was not at all weird to me because the friends we were going to lunch with still worked at that church.  And it was in between where Ryan lived and where I stayed when we came to visit.  No big deal.  

When I met Ryan at the church, he told me there was something he wanted to show me.  So I followed him into the sanctuary and didn't notice anything at first.  Then I noticed a runner down the aisle and a table with candles at the end.  My first thought was, "Is this it?  Oh, I hope this is it... Don't get your hopes up, Haley."  

Then He had me start picking up these letters.  Each one had a different "top memory" from our time together starting with our first date, me spending the summer in Africa... and ending with him asking my parents if he could marry me.  Again, I was thinking, I think this is it... don't get your hopes up, Haley... if this isn't it, then he's grounded!   I finally started to believe once I read the last letter.  When I finished reading it, Ryan got down on one knee and asked me if I'd marry him.  Apparently I kept saying, "Are you serious?"  over and over and over again.  It took me a while to get "YES!" out of my mouth.

Ryan also had planned a surprise engagement party for me right after that.  All of the people that I love most in life were there (well, almost).  It was the greatest day!  My parents had driven in from Louisiana, Ryan's parents were there, and almost all of the people that ended up being in our wedding were there, too.  

Thanks for making me always feel so special, Ryan.  I love you more now than I did six years ago... and that is A LOT!!!  Thanks for being such a great husband and great daddy.  You're my favorite.  :)