"I can hear the bells...."

Well for those of you who don’t know…IM ENGAGED!

I have had many requests to blog about how Tyler proposed to me so here I go…I’m finally going to tell my fairy tale story J

I feel like I need to start from the very very beginning of our story because not every fairy tale starts at the proposal….

Tyler and me have always just “been friends”…best friends actually. I always knew that it wasn’t normal for a girl to have a “best guy friend” but me and Tyler’s friendship was a rare thing. The first summer we met- my best friend Carly and I spent everyday in the little town of Prosper hanging out with Ty and his friends. When I went off to college that August I really expected our friendship to fade, but without fail, every holiday or break-I found myself back in Prosper.

People would always comment on our friendship and ask me why we had never dated. I would always seem to say “He’s my best friend…. that’s weird.” Truth be told…I was usually the one trying to set him up with all my friends! I was just THAT good of a friend ;)

It wasn’t until a couple years later did I start looking at Tyler differently. Sure, I had always thought he was super attractive and fun but I had never thought about what it be like to actually date him. For a long time I kept these feelings to myself, not wanting to ruin the friendship we had built. Over time- Tyler and I started hanging out more just one-on-one and things just naturally went from best friend to actual boyfriend.  

We had our first “date” on New Years Eve where he cooked me a fabulous dinner at his house. That was the first time I remember thinking to myself “Holy cow…I’m dating my best friend…”

Ironically….364 days later….I found myself in a  little chapel in Mckinney thinking a very similar thought only this time saying….“Holy cow…I’m ENGAGED to my best friend!”

Tyler wanted to take me out for our one year and so his mom had suggested us going to this place in McKinney called Rick’s Chophouse. We decided that we wanted to celebrate the day before New Years so we could spend time with friends the next night. After getting all dolled up, Tyler came to my house and greeted me with red roses and off we went! While figuring out what we wanted to eat something funny happened.... this random man walked up to us and congratulated us on our engagement! I looked at Tyler confused and immediately he says “Oh no we’re not engaged, but we are celebrating our one year!” The man looked at us so confused, apologized and then walked off. Me, being the person who loves to analyze everything, started to ask Tyler why he said that. “Do you think he thought my purity ring was an engagement ring?!...I should probably take it off” “Do you think he meant that for somebody else here??” “Do you see any other young couples eating around us??

Tyler didn’t seem to be phased by the man’s hiccup so I finally dropped the subject. After we got done eating our waitress walked up to our table and asked us if we wanted any dessert. “Oh no…”, I replied, “ I am beyond full!” “Are you sure?,” she replied, “Its complimentary with the engagement!” I laughed and said, “Oh no, I think y’all have us confused with somebody else here…I’m sorry!” She as well, looked so confused but eventually walked off.

When leaving we walked outside and immediately saw a white carriage with two white horses by the restaurants’ sidewalk. Tyler looked at me and said, “Hey want to go on a carriage ride??” I quickly responded with “Uhhh no no…. Let’s just get home and get some ice cream or something!” Tyler then said “No lets do this…it’ll be fun!” I kept saying no until the women on the carriage finally said, “Are you Tyler?” At that moment I realized that he had planned this little adventure.

So Tyler and me hopped on the carriage and proceed to take a 30-minute ride through the historical district of Mckinney! The whole time the woman leading our ride was telling us about all the history of the old homes and when they were all established. She then pointed out this tiny little chapel up ahead and told us it was one of the first chapels built in the town of Mckinney. She stops her horses right in front of it and that’s when Tyler asked, “Do you think we could go in it? Is it unlocked?!” At this point, I didn’t think anything of Tyler asking that. He is always up for some kind of adventure so him wanting to sneak into a 100 year old chapel wasn’t a surprise to me. The women told us that it might be open so with that- Tyler and me started climbing out of the carriage and making our way up the stairs.

Tyler opened up the door and this is what I saw….

We walked up to the table and chairs and Tyler started playing and singing the Keith Urban song “ Only You Can Love Me This Way” while I looked through a scrapbook that he has made for me. When the song was over I looked up and Tyler was on one knee with a ring in his hand. 

He said some sweet words that I honestly cant remember…and then after a lot of hugging and kissing and whipping of tears he said, “If anybody is in here, they can come out now!” And with that- his family and my family all came out of the back of the chapel! It was so perfect.

       {the perfect ring Tyler designed for me!!} 

After taking some pictures and receiving a lot more hugs, we made our way back to the Toney’s for dessert. The second I got in the car, I started calling all my best friends to tell them about what had just happened. They of course, were freaking out and saying how “they wished they were there” Deep down, I was kinda wishing the same thing. After walking into Tyler’s house we were greeted with so many wonderful friends and family! I was so excited to show off my ring and tell the story that I didn’t even notice my best friends walking down the stairs right behind me! I turned around to see them all singing our E blowout song while holding a single red candle. So right in the middle of Tyler’s house…I had my very own blowout! J I was in heaven.

So there you go. The entire story. It’s a long one but it’s also a perfect one. I’m going to be marrying my best friend and It doesn’t get much better then that J

We are looking at getting married at the end of October. So let the planning BEGIN!