Mar 18, 20224 min read

Our Proposal Story

OUR LOVE STORY: March 18, 2022

On Sunday, it will be one year since Logan and I got engaged! It's wild to think a year has gone by since that day, because SO much happened last year. In honor of the anniversary, I wanted to share our full engagement story.

It was March 2021, and I was in a place in my life where I was going to need to make serious decisions about my future. My apartment lease was almost up, and my contract at WSET was up the same day (March 31). Thankfully, my landlord allowed me to extend my lease for 6 months, so I could stay in my apartment until September 30. With WSET, I didn't want to re-sign for another year, but I also wasn't ready to be jobless. I prayed about it and actually ended up putting in my two weeks notice. I knew Logan and I would probably get married in the next year, and I did not want to either live in Lynchburg for the first few months of our marriage or have to commute from Roanoke everyday. God is good, because I was offered a 6 month extension on my contract (which never happens). I decided my last day would be September 30. Pretty cool how God works things out.

I didn't want to put pressure on things with Logan, but I was on a time crunch now. He and my best friend Emily are close and were always in kahoots about me when it came to birthdays, Christmas presents, etc. I asked her if he had said anything about getting engaged, and she told me not to expect anything anytime soon. I totally believed her.

On March 20, 2021. Logan had come to Lynchburg the night before, and we had planned to go on a walk down to Percival's Island with our pug Pippa that day. It was a beautiful day, but I was lolly-gagging. It was like 11:30 in the morning, and I was still in my pjs. Logan was dressed for the walk and kept trying to encourage me to get ready. Instead, I asked him to make me an omelet! I just was in no rush. While I was getting ready in the other room, he took this picture with Pippa:

We finally headed out the door, and it was past noon. We walked from my apartment downtown toward the bridge over the James River. Logan asked me what all we had to do today, and I started rattling off random errands. When I finished, he goes "Yeah, I don't think we're going to do any of those things." We had reached the overlook part of the bridge, and I saw a phone propped up on a stand, and a girl taking scenic shots with a camera. He said, "Let's go over here," and led me to the overlook. I was in shock. It had all the makings of a proposal, but was this legit about to happen? Next thing I knew, Logan was telling me how much he loves me, how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me...all the things said at a proposal! Then, he pulled a black box out his pocket and got down on his knee. The ring was GORGEOUS! He had worked with our friend Joanna at Haywood's Jewelers to create this beauty.

He opens his mouth, then out of nowhere, a little girl was in our face and said, "Hi, I'm Jill. I'm 5." She had spotted Pippa in my arms and wanted to pet her. Keep in mind, her mom was standing right there and didn't step in to grab her, so she made it in a few pictures. (And by the way, the girl taking scenic shots was a photographer he hired. She had been waiting on us while I was lolly-gagging at the apartment. Shoutout to Sandy Sappington!)

Logan being Logan said to Jill, "Do you want to help me ask my girlfriend to be my fiancée?" He then asked me to marry him, and I said, "Of course!!" We took a few more pictures, and Pippa was sooooo over it. Her faces were hilarious in these pictures. Poor thing just wanted to go on a walk.

I turned to continue the walk, and Logan goes "Yeah, we have a whole day planned, so we're not going on a walk." I was in such shock, because I genuinely believed we weren't getting engaged for a few more months. We walked to the White Hart Cafe on Main Street in Lynchburg. As we headed to the back porch, I saw all my parents and Logan's parents that had driven up from North Carolina waiting for us! Second time I was surprised! My mom had barely talked to me all week, because she was so worried she would blow the secret. Then, Emily showed up! She lives in Crozet and drove in for the celebration. I asked her to be my Maid of Honor on the spot :)

Then, Logan told me the day wasn't over: we had somewhere to be at 3 p.m. My priority was showering, because I was still in workout clothes with dirty hair. An hour and a half later, we were in the car heading down the road. I realized we were going to my Aunt Lisa's house out in the country. When we rolled up, all of my friends and family were lined up outside cheering. We even had friends from Roanoke who had driven to Lynchburg. Logan had planned this party weeks ago, and everyone in my life knew we were getting engaged...except for me!