Engaged!

He asked. And I said, "Yes!"

I am elated to soon be known as the "Better Half," of Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Ryan Fillingame! To some this is a surprise; but, to all a joyful occasion.

Ryan and I have known each other for over three years. During our journey we have learned an abundance about each other, and our loving Savior, through the mountain tops and valleys of life. God has been shaping Ryan and me; and, through his perfect timing has been unfolding his plan. We now continue our journey together learning to pursue life as one.

On Tuesday, August 8, 2006, we traveled to North Carolina (just over the GA and NC border) under the guise of checking on a relative's new house in the mountains. We prepared to have lunch and then go hiking to explore the waterfalls on the mountain on which the house is built. Neither one of us had visited the falls before and we were both excited about this little adventure.

We drove to the base of the mountain and began hiking. We walked and talked as we soaked up the environment around us. After a little while of walking, Ryan stopped abruptly causing me to just about smack into his backside: he was leading me. I looked up at him and his mouth was agape. His eyes widened as he said, "Oh my gosh, look." We both then turned our heads upward and directly in front of us, almost above us, was a magnificent rock cavern.

The rock cavern more closely resembled an amphitheatre than a cave. We walked into this haven and were in awe! All around us were walls of flat rock and huge isolated flat rocks. We both continued with exclamations like, "Look at how awesome God is, " and "I can't believe this is practically in our back yard!" We walked around taking mental snap shots, feeling the rock texture, and breathing the fresh air in deeply so we could saturate our being with this experience. Little did I know that this was only a small taste of the grand occasion.

Next, we climbed down to the lower waterfalls that joined the "Rock House" to the left. This section of the falls was small in size but majestic in influence! I began stepping from rock to rock so that I could position myself directly in front of the rushing waterfall. I couldn't wait to clearly see this beautiful part of God's creation. Standing in the creek about 10 feet in front of the waterfall I noticed a enormous log that seemed to be begging me to leave my mark in its bark. I heard Ryan come back around the corner and asked him if he had a knife. "No, he said. "Why, did you want to carve your name in the log," was his next question. "Yes," I somewhat sullenly replied. "Well come up out of the water; I have something better," he shouted. As I climbed back up away from the falls I was wondering what was better.

As I reached Ryan, he pulled a hammer and a chisel out of his bag. "I thought that we could carve our names in the rock so it will be here forever," he explained. (The existence of the Rock House had been foretold by his aunt.) I was blown away with such a significantly thoughtful gesture. I smiled.

As Ryan was carving our initials in the enormous flat rock, I was thinking things like, "This time together is so awesome and this outing is free," and "We will remember this forever and we can even come back to visit this spot." Nearing the end of Ryan's carving he asked me to go down to the falls and get some water to clean off the excess dust on the rock. When I returned we rinsed the carving.

While holding each other and smiling we viewed his masterpiece. Ryan looked at me and said, "That's pretty permanent, huh?" "Yup," I replied. Then he said, "It's gonna be there forever, right?" As I began to repsond, in one swift motion, Ryan took my left hand and got down on one knee. As he did this, he grabbed my right hand and turned out the ring so I could see it. "Allison, will you marry me?" he asked. My eyes welled up with tears and I was about to burst. Then, I began laughing. My body couldn't decide which it wanted to do: laugh or cry. I said, "Yes." We then stood up. Ryan looked me in the eye and proclaimed, "I love you, babe." And I responded, "I love you too!"

We stood there together holding each other and enjoying this moment. I couldn't stop the nervous yet giggly laughing. (Ryan said he had never seen me like this before and that I was acting like a 12 year old girl). This made him smile and laugh too.

Finally, we decided to hike up to the major falls. We figured we lost the path and didn't hike all the way to the top. We decided to go back down and go swimming in the pool at lower falls. The water was cold; but, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to add this to the memory of the day. We waded in the water and explored the banks. What a beautiful creation!

As Ryan held me while we sat in the rippling water of the little creek I thought, "This beauty is part of the beginning of the rest of our life together."