OUR LOVE STORY ROCKS!

I'm absolutely, positively, 100% convinced that I am engaged to the sweetest man in the whole world. WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!

You might say I knew very early on that John was the one. I actually texted my good friend, Meghan Poore, saying "I know it seems crazy because it's only been three weeks, but he's the one!" And I wasn't some crazy girl just looking for love and dying to get married. I had my reasons for knowing.

And I've since developed more reasons for knowing.

And they may be centered around rocks.

Our First Date
We went on our first date August 14, 2011. John picked me up and took me to Elite Circle Grill for dinner. After, I suggested we go tortilla tossing. Tortilla tossing is a "Baylor thing." Basically you fling tortillas off the Suspension Bridge and try to land them on the cement pillar in the river. It's much harder than it sounds and not as lame as you're thinking it is. John landed one tortilla. I claim to land one as well, but it was dark and neither of us for sure saw it, so we'll never know.

After the tortilla tossing, John asked if I wanted walk along the river. We went a little ways and then he decided to sit on some nearby rocks. He sat down first and proceeded to dust the rock off next to him.

My heart melted.

I knew right then and there that he is the sweetest boy in the whole entire world. He was trying to clean off a rock for me! A rock! A hard lump of dirt! And there he was trying to make sure it was okay for me to sit on. Who wouldn't want to be with the boy who will do whatever he can to make sure you're getting the best? Even when the task at hand is practically impossible?

I will never forget that moment.

Our Time Apart
About two weeks after our first date, John and I started seeing each other on a daily basis. We spent every weeknight together after/before work, and all of our weekends together. We were in puppy love bliss.

After 7 months of dating though, John felt our foundation was strong enough to endure a long distance. He decided to move to Pittsburgh and so began one of the hardest periods of my life. I spent the majority of my free time from January to May looking for a job in Pittsburgh. And while I had interviews here and there, nothing ever developed. I finally took a job in the Dallas area (just to get out of the news business) and continued (half heartedly) to search for a job in Pittsburgh. We knew before he left that I would move to Pittsburgh eventually, we just had no idea when. And with no job prospects, the move seemed very far off.

The first few months of our long-distance relationship were so tough. But then I moved to Dallas, got in a routine and things got easier. But as 6 months turned to 9, you can say I got a little crazy.

Throughout it all, John stayed strong. He was my rock. He reminded me the end would come and urged me to be patient. He put up with me when I refused to be patient and was unmoved when I would falter. If you want to know what he was like, you just need to listen to this song (which I can no longer hear without crying).

I am forever grateful for how solid John was during our year apart.

Our Engagement
John is a season ticket holder to the Pirates baseball games. I've gone to a handful of games with him this season and every time we talk about how we want to go to the Point at night.

The Point is this huge fountain/park area where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join together to form the Ohio River. This area has been closed for the last few years due to renovations. In June they finally opened it back up, and John and I were there for the grand re-opening. We saw it during the daytime then, but we heard it was much prettier at night. We just hadn't made the trek over there to see it.

On our way to the game John mentioned that we should walk over there after the game ended. I wasn't too sure that it was a good idea because I was extremely tired and had an early class the next morning. The game was unfortunately disappointing (the Pirates lost by 1 to the Brewers) and had some very looooong innings. It was 10:30 by the time the game ended but John insisted we walk over there. Every other time I've tried to get him to walk over there, he refused, so I figured I should take advantage of this opportunity and suck it up.

We got to the point at 10 til 11. A bike-riding officer informed us that the park closed in 10 minutes. So we hurried around to the very tip so we could get a picture with the city skyline in the background. Since no one else was at the point, John told me to just take a picture of the fountain with the background without us in it. I snapped the picture and when I turned back around, he was down on one knee. And in his hand was the most gorgeous rock I've ever seen!! Not long after, the fountain shut off and we were told to leave. We spent the rest of the night calling our friends and family to share the news!

It was the best night of my life.

I am in love with the rock that sits so elegantly on my left hand and constantly has me staring.
I am in love with the rock that sits along the Brazos River and was "cleaned" off by my favorite boy.
I am in love with the rock that sits permanently in my life and refuses to budge no matter what I do or what mood I'm in.
I am in love with John Peter Mallick IV, and I so can't wait to marry him.

The only picture of us that night.
Pre-game and pre-proposal.

My gorgeous ring from all angles!

The (crappy) picture I took as he got
down on one knee.

The best night ever.