Zack had planned to go on a cruise with my family and I in June. Without knowing, we both had booked flights with a layover in Atlanta and we happened to all be on the same flight from Atlanta to Tampa. I realized this a few weeks before the trip and switched some seats on the flight so that Zack and I would be sitting together. He still thought that my layover was in Houston so I was excited to surprise him.  Once we landed in Atlanta, I was able to find out where he was and surprise him. We then continued onto Tampa and boarded the cruise ship the following day.

The first day aboard the Carnival Valor we spent the day exploring the ship and planning our activities for the week. That night, we got ready for our first formal dinner. After dinner, Zack and I were planning on going to one of the later shows. We had a little time to kill between dinner and the show so Zack suggested we walk around the top deck to see the stars. He knows how much I love being on open water at night time so I agreed.  We went up to the top deck of the ship which happened to look a lot like the top deck where we had spent so much time together on the first cruise when we first met.

After walking around for awhile, I told Zack I was ready to go back down to the lower deck because I had to go to the bathroom after drinking three glasses of water at dinner. He told me we should stay up there a little bit longer and then we would leave. I thought it was cute that he wanted to spend some more time with me but by this point I really needed to use the restroom. I kept asking to go downstairs when he finally grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. He was telling me how we had met in a place similar to this five years before and how much he loved me and a ton of other stuff that I don't remember. Finally, he pulled away from me to get down on one knee and pull out a little black box.  He had barely gotten the words out before I said, "YES!" and pulled him up into a hug without hardly looking at the ring. After a few moments he asked me if I wanted to actually see the ring and put it on. I excitedly said yes again and offered my shaking hand as he slipped the gorgeous ring onto my ring finger.

We made our way over to a bench where we sat and talked for awhile. He explained to me that I was pretty much the last person to find out about the proposal because both of our families and our friends knew. He told me about how he had asked my parents permission and how he had managed to keep it a surprise the past several months. Before we left, we got a lady walking the track to take a picture of us. We then went to tell my parents even though they already knew. Even though I was excited to surprise Zack in Atlanta, it turns out that he had the biggest surprise of all for me.

I had known for a long time that I was going to propose to Emily. I knew there were a few different ways I could do it but none of them would be as good as if I could do it on a cruise since that's where we met. Emily's family invited me to go on vacation with them which actually turned out to be a cruise; it was too perfect. 

Shortly after the invitation, my mom and I went shopping for the perfect ring that she would wear for the rest of her life. After finding the right one and getting the approval of her best friend and my mother, I also got it engraved. The engraving said "now and forever babe" which was always our sign off when writing letters back and forth throughout the years. 

Before I knew it, I was flying to Florida never being more sure about anything in my entire life. With a layover in Atlanta, I searched high and low for a place to eat in one of Americas busiest airports. I finally found a seat at a community table in the Chilis To Go. I sat and talked with a girl who was actually from Dayton, Ohio. We talked about what we were doing and where we were going and I shared the news that I was so excited about proposing to Emily. I looked down at my phone and saw a 6 page text from Emily talking about how there were problems with their flight and how they were going to land in Texas. She said they wouldn't make it to Tampa until late and that I should just go to the hotel room we were all supposed to be staying in and that I would see them in the morning. As soon as I saw this text, I knew something was up. Then out of nowhere I heard a voice behind me say, "heyyyy hot stuff, can I buy you a drink?" I turned around and saw my beautiful fiancée (then girlfriend) standing there. I was excited to see her but nervous since her engagement ring was in my book bag. From then on, I had to make sure my book bag was out of her reach since she can sometimes be a control freak and check through my stuff to make sure that I remembered everything. 

 I knew that I would propose the first night because it would make her whole vacation even better if I popped the question. After dinner we decided to take a walk before we went off to one of the shows. I took her up to the part of the ship where we had gotten to know each other on the first ship. We walked up to the track area and right before I was about to get down on one knee, a whole herd of kids ran from the side which just ruined the moment. I waited a few minutes until we were by ourselves again. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me but before I even had time to finish the question she grabbed my shirt, pulled me up, screamed yes, and kissed and hugged me right away. I finally asked her if she actually wanted to see the ring and try it on. She laughed out a yes as I slipped it on her shaky fingers. She looked down at it and I knew she loved it. 

We finally went downstairs because she admitted she really needed to go to the restroom. (So romantic, huh?) When she came out of the bathroom I saw tears streaming down her face and she said with a huge smile, "we're engaged!!" I grabbed her and gave her the biggest hug I could, knowing we couldn't have done it a better way.