I love Cassie Jeanette Bean. We met through our ward in May 2019. Our best friends, Brinnley and Spencer, started dating, and we spent lots of time together because of that, sometimes with our big group of friends and sometimes just the four of us. We floated the Provo river and got pho. Despite Spencer and Brinnley's best efforts, we didn't date in 2019. We were still friends throughout 2020, though we didn't see as much of each other for some of it due to Covid. But, while our feelings of friendship stayed the same, our roommate's and friend's desire for us to date only grew #teamcassie. Spencer and Brinnley got married in July of 2020. This was a great experience for them and a great time for our families to point out to Cassie and me how great the other was.
Returning to Provo for the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, we reconnected as friends, and since everyone else was dating in our friend group, we often found ourselves paired off. I loved talking to Cassie and connecting while watching movies such as Sleeping Beauty and The Godfather. I found that she was a great communicator and shared nearly every interest with me. She was cute and funny and laughed with me. By the time I asked her out, we were best friends. Despite Cassie trying to avoid our first date by getting Covid, we finally made it happen and got crepes together on 3 October 2020. We had so much fun talking and continued to bond over our love of family and travel and food. We started going on drives together, talking and memorizing each other's family's names. We went to Zupa's for the first time on 7 October 2020, becoming a bi-weekly tradition we have held to religiously. We held hands for the first time while driving the Alpine loop on 11 October 2020. More dates and lots of fun followed. Our first kiss was on 1 November 2020. We watched The Good Place together, and lots of movies. We played games with our friends. As we met each other's families, we found that we were a perfect fit to join them. I love Cassie's family! We continued to love talking and spending time together in any way, shape, or form. We were apart for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and especially for Christmas, it was hard to be apart. On 9 January 2021, I told Cassie Bean that I loved her. And she said that she loved me, and had wanted to say it first. By the end of January, we knew we were going to get married.
Next came what is the subject of this post. I got to plan the proposal. I went to Wilson Diamonds where Anna works to get a ring, and under the guise of writing a paper, I spent time preparing the gazebo and writing notes to attach to roses with help for the idea coming from my mom. I found a gazebo with lights and a great view over Provo with the help of my grandparents. I wrote 12 notes about what our future would look like, including topics such as Good Friends, Enjoying the Outdoors, and Time with Extended Family, and attached each note to a rose, which were then spread around the gazebo. In the gazebo was a vase with a note reading "Our Life Together".
On Wednesday night, 24 February 2021, I picked Cassie up, and I tried to just have normal conversations with her like a normal person, but I was so excited and nervous. We drove to my grandparent's house and then continued past their house, at which point Cassie knew exactly what was happening, though not where. I pulled to a stop as we approached the gazebo, which had been prepared by Katie, Spencer, and Brinnley with the roses spread and the lights on. I got out of the car with Cassie, and we held hands as we walked down the street into view of the gazebo. It was gorgeous, and Cassie was shocked that a gazebo was there. We entered the gazebo, and I told her to gather the roses and read the notes, which she did, placing them into the vase as she went, and then I offered her the last rose, with a note describing our wedding on July 24th. I then got down on one knee, opened the ring box, and said, "Cassie Bean, will you marry me?" She said yes. With the ring on her finger, we sat down with a heated blanket in the cold night, and smiled and talked and laughed and admired the ring. We were so happy just to be engaged. My uncle Mike Walton was the photographer and did an impressive job capturing the event. I told Mike to come out of hiding to take some last pictures, and then we called our parents to share the news.
It was such a great night. Spencer, Brinnley, and Katie were there to help us celebrate and to admire the ring. I was so happy that everything worked out. We are so grateful to Mike for capturing these moments. We love the pictures. Cassie and I are getting married on 24 July 2021, exactly five months after I proposed to her, and we couldn't be happier.
Cassie, I love you to eternity and beyond!
The following are the twelve notes I wrote of what will compose our life together:
I love seeing your story all written out and you nailed it with the proposal. You and Cassie are perfect together!
Ryan! It's so great that you have this all written down. I just love it. And I love you and Cassie together. So grateful you found each other.