Day one
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The date was Sunday, February 10, 2019. I was on my way back to the United States from a great vacation. I traveled to Colombia, South America, to celebrate my best friend Whitney’s 30th birthday. It was a great trip and we had an amazing time, but I was exhausted and ready to get home and go to bed. My plane was scheduled to arrive in St. Louis late on Sunday night.  There was a snowstorm in St. Louis earlier that day so I was hoping my flight didn’t get delayed. Carl called me that morning and said that church was cancelled and that he was snowed in. His brunch plans also got cancelled that day. He told me he spent the entire day in the house doing nothing. Little did I know he had been nervously planning a surprise that would change our lives forever.

So while I was out of the country living my best life, Carl was carefully planning the proposal. If you ask him, it was the perfect time for him to plan while I was away as he had “peace of mind”. He had 5 full days without me around to strategize without me asking a million and one questions. If you know Carl, you know he’s a planner. His favorite line is “it’s chess not checkers.” Most times it annoys me because I tend to sometimes be impulsive and spontaneous, but in this case I was extremely grateful for all the effort he put in to make it the best day of my life.

I landed in St. Louis around 11:30pm. Carl picked me up from the airport and drove to my apartment to drop me off. He carried my bags upstairs to my 2nd floor apartment and as soon as we entered I walked straight to the bedroom and noticed a surprise on my bed. There was a bouquet of red roses and a card. I was so surprised and excited, but honestly I didn’t think too much of it because that wasn’t the first time he’s bought me “just because” roses. So I hopped on the bed to open the card and read it. Carl immediately walked out of the room. For some reason, he never likes for me to read his cards in front of him so I didn’t think much of that either. I opened the card and began to read his heartfelt message but as I was opening the card a Chipotle gift card fell out onto the floor. If you know me, you know how much I LOVE CHIPOTLE! lol “Chipotle is my liiiife!”

So at this point I was wondering what I had done to receive so many gifts and surprises from him. My initial thought was that this might’ve been my early Valentine’s day gift, but as I continued to read the very long note Carl wrote in the card, it was clear that he just missed me a whole bunch! :) The line that stays with me is “don’t leave me like that ever again. And if you do, at least you will have my last name.” That line completely went over my head because I was just so focused on this Chipotle gift card haha. 

After reading the card I called Carl into the room to let him know I was done reading it and to thank him. In my happy voice I said,  “Awwww baby, come here and give me a hug.” And he responded, “No babe, you come here.” If you recall, I was still exhausted from traveling and didn’t feel like getting up so we went back and forth a few times telling each other to come here as neither of us wanted to move lol. Eventually, I decided to stop being lazy and go to him because of all the effort he had put in to surprise me. 

I got out the bed and walked into the living room. I expected to see Carl sitting on the couch with his phone in his hand as he scrolled on Twitter or something but as soon I hit the corner, I saw him on one knee and my heart dropped. I panicked, gasped, and literally ran out the room. There he was, my boyfriend of four years, in my living room, down on one knee with a ring in his hand. Utter shock is an understatement of how I felt in that moment. I was legit speechless. After trying to wrap my head around what was happening for a few more seconds, I slowly walked back to the living room.

Honestly, the next few minutes are a blur to me. All I remember is Carl saying “2019 is the year to commit” and some other things that I’m sure were really profound and beautiful. I very distinctly remember myself asking multiple times “Is this real? Like is this really happening right now?!”Next thing I know, he asked the most important question that anyone would ever ask me. “Ashley Nicole Johnson, will you marry me?” I replied “YES!” and he slid this ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL diamond ring on my finger.

As I’m standing in the middle of the living room floor still trying to grasp what just happened, Carl goes to the kitchen to open the refrigerator. He comes back with a bottle of champagne and a Chipotle bag. Y’all. Not only did this man buy my roses, and give me a beautifully written card with a Chipotle gift card inside, he asked me to marry him, gave me a diamond ring, and had a physical burrito bowl exactly how I like it with CHIPS AND GUAC! If I could I would’ve married him right at that moment! lol

So as I sit down to eat my Chipotle and drink a glass of champagne while reflecting on what just happened, Carl informs me that we have about 15 minutes until we need to get to the next stop. Next stop?! At this point it’s 1:00 in the morning and I have to work the next day. But I follow along because I’m literally living a dream. Carl mentions that he already packed a bag for me and that I just needed to grab whatever items I needed from the suitcase that I had just taken on vacation with me. 

We head down to the car and as I walk to the passenger’s side of the car he instructs me that I’ll be the one driving. I’m a little confused as to why he would have me drive but I just follow along and get in the driver’s seat. He then gets in the back seat of the car. I turn around and jokingly say “This ain’t no Uber!” and he just ignores me and instructs me to drive. As I’m following his directions I’m quietly trying to guess where we could be going at 1:00 in the morning. There aren’t many places open at that time of night. Before I have a chance to come up with something the music starts playing… “Hop into my spaceship coupe, there’s only room for two...Me and you!” and if you read our “How We Met” story, you should immediately know, like I did, where we were headed. IHOP! Carl was recreating the day we met. So thoughtful and cute! So even though IHOP was open, we didn’t go in and eat because I had Chipotle, duh! But we did take a few pictures in front of the restaurant.

We then got back in the car. Carl got in the driver’s seat this time and headed to our NEXT location: the Four Seasons hotel. As I walk into the hotel room, I’m greeted by chocolate covered strawberries, more champagne and a trail of roses that leads to petals of roses shaped in the form of a heart with a card inside. When I opened the card, I was met with ANOTHER SURPRISE - an appointment card for a 1 hour massage at Massage Envy. At this point I’m literally in awe of how much thought and effort Carl has put into this special day. Little did I know, this engagement story will continue on or 5 more special days.

Day two
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The next morning, I woke up and Carl drove me to work. I spent the entire day calling, texting, and FaceTiming all my family and friends to share the good news. We decided to wait to post on social media until after we shared with the people closest to us. It worked out perfectly for me because my nails looked terrible from the week I was on vacation. I made sure I went to the nail salon for a fresh manicure on my lunch break. After work, Carl picked me up and we got dressed for the evening’s activities. For the almost 2 years that I  lived in St. Louis, I always complained to him about how he hadn’t really showed me the gems in his city. I always said that if he wanted me to stay in St. Louis he better make me love it. Well for the next 5 days, he definitely made me fall in love with the city and even more in love with him. 

That night we had dinner at Carmine’s Steakhouse and drinks at the Cinder House restaurant in the Four Seasons.

Day three
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On Day 3, we went to Massage Envy for massages and had dinner on “The Hill” at Charlie Gitto’s.

Day four
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On Day 4, we went to the Arch and had BLTs and milkshakes at Crown Candy Kitchen. We then went to Ted Drewes for an additional treat!

Day five
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 Day 5 was Valentine’s Day. While I was in a meeting, Carl stopped by my job and left some Hot Box cookies for me to enjoy! He planned on heading back to work but I happened to get back to my office right as he was pulling out of the parking lot. Later that night, to show my appreciation I ordered food from Texas Roadhouse and we enjoyed a beautiful take out dinner because I was too exhausted to cook haha.

Day six
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 And on the final day, he surprised me with tickets a concert. We sang our hearts out to Babyface, Joe and Charlie Wilson. We were definitely the youngest people in the building.

This was literally an experience that I will NEVER forget!