Down old tobacco roads: April 5, 2014- Engaged to my Best Friend!

Last Saturday, I received the surprise of my life. Jordan and I have been dating for almost 8 years, it will be on April 29 of this year. We have been waiting patiently to get married, trying to do the right thing financially. We began dating as juniors in high school, and have worked through working long crazy hours, hundreds of baseball games, many volleyball games, races, and family struggles through those 8 years, but we have worked through each happy occasion and struggle and are stronger than ever.

Back in the fall, we both obtained teaching positions in Stokes County, Jordan at West Stokes, and me, at South Stokes. We could not have been happier! After we obtained teaching positions, we started talking about getting married a little bit more often, but we wanted to make sure that we were ready- and that everything was okay within our families. I suppose Jordan had decided that the time was right.

April 5th, 2014-

It began like a normal day, Jordan preparing for the upcoming turkey season, and me running and training for the 10k on the family farm. We have begun to renovate a house that I will move into as soon as it is completed. It was the house that my Granny grew up in during her teenage years, and it is on the old tobacco farm that has been in my family since the 1740s. We received GREAT news on Saturday that our loan had been approved and that we would move forward with signing and begin construction/renovations on the house within two weeks! Such a great day already!

Well, Jordan came over to visit while I was running, he stopped me and said "why don't we go look at the old tobacco barn logs on the backside, then go get supper tonight" I told him I didn't want to get sweaty, and he insisted that I would not get hot, for me to get ready, wear my boots, by 5:30 that afternoon. So, I did.

Jordan picked me up at my parents house and we went down to the farm. As we are walking to the backside- (Jordan holding my hand all the way) Jordan begins asking me questions about what I have going on at work the next week, what we need to do to the house first, and I ask him the same thing. Finally we reach the top of the ridge where a tree had fallen and I look up to the tree where Jordan had carved a J & A in it several months back. A wooden board was hanged up above it, and I start complaining about someone trespassing on our property, and how I did not want to deal with that when we moved over there.

Jordan asked me to flip the sign over to see what it said, and so I moved toward the sign, and he helped me flip it over:

It said "The Jessup's" and as soon as I turned back around Jordan was down on one knee with a ring out:

Jordan told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me: I was in shock, but of course said "YES"- he told me "come here so I can put the ring on you."

Needless to say, I was balling like a baby, so surprised, and happy. I hardly could even understand what Jordan was saying. Finally, he told me that he had another surprise, that his mom was hiding in the woods taking pictures of the whole thing- and I started to hear the "click,"click" of the camera.

I found out here that Kem was taking photos! Jordan planned out this proposal better than anything that could have been written in a book, or acted out in a movie! From making the sign that said "The Jessup's" to having the entire thing photographed. He is amazing!

So excited!

The ring was more than perfect!!!

So, we will be "The Jessup's" sometime next year. We have been patient with each other, with timing, and with our lives, and could not be more thankful and blessed to begin our journey together! We have been there for each other through good and bad times, and I will be honored and proud to be "his wife," because he is the love of my life.