March 31st was a Wednesday and I typically go to eat with my graduate school friends and any boyfriends that join us after our class at 5:30. I got a message from my friend Taylor before I left my house to go to class that said that she needed to move dinner back to 6:30 because she had to run some errands after class for her mom. I was slightly annoyed at the random hour I would have to do nothing but William assured me that we would find "something to do". He told me that he would come pick me up from class and we would go to do something. This was odd to me because I would typically just come home and hang out for a while. I decided to let it go and went on to class. (Oh I did have some suspicion because William had asked me the night before what my schedule was for Wednesday which was not normal and I knew the proposal was coming. I decided to not get my hopes up so I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.)
So after my class got out early around 5:15, I called William to come pick me up and we talked about what we would do. He said he had thought about going to walk around the park because it was such a pretty day but figured it would be a little difficult so he figured we could just walk around campus. I thought that was a great idea, but thought it was a little odd that he had thought the plan out so much because normally neither of us would care what we do and we would just decide on the spot. When he picked me up, we drove around to a good parking area on campus and found a spot. He got his video camera out of his car (which normally would be odd but you never know with William) and we went walking up toward the middle of campus and then turned toward the football stadium. I figured we would go more toward the grove to walk in that direction but apparently William had other plans.
We found an easy way into the stadium and began to walk toward the field. I had never been on the field or been in the stadium when it is empty so it was quite a sight. William had the camera going the entire time which was slightly annoying but fun to know I could look back and the day. We stood in the middle of the field for about 15 minutes talking about random things and it got to the point where I was thinking "If this is THE time, we should make this happen. If not, lets go eat!" but I did not want to spoil any plans that William had so I stood around for as long as he wanted.
Finally William moved a cone that was left in the middle of the field to a position where he could set his camera down on it to film us. He took my hand, got down on his knee, and asked me to marry him. I of course said YES and he took my purity ring off and placed my BEAUTIFUL engagement ring on my finger. We took some time to just hug and kiss each other and wrap our heads around the fact that we are actually engaged. William got the camera and we said our goodbyes to the tape.
He then explained that this was the spot that he wanted to propose because Oxford, Ole Miss, and football mean so much to both of us and he wanted it to be somewhere that we would always come back to and cherish. It is an incredible story that we will be able to share with our children and we can always show them where their daddy asked their mommy to marry him. So special! Then he explained that he had been working with Taylor to make sure the plans were set, that my friends were waiting at dinner, and that we were going to have cake and ice cream at her house to celebrate.
I felt so blessed and cared for at that moment and it could not have been any better. I love William and cannot wait to be his wife someday! :)
