xoxo,
Haley Nicole

I'm a peppy and talkative go-getter, and I'm so glad you're here on the blog. It's a collection of my latest projects & thoughts! Comment on a post, & let me know you're here!

hey y'all,

I'm Haley Nicole!

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Our Story || Our Proposal

Yesterday marked three years since Hayden proposed, and I seriously can’t believe how fast time has flown by! It was one of my favorite nights ever, and I was so over the moon excited! It’s sad to say it’s been three years, and I don’t think I’ve typed out how Hayden asked. Whoops, definitely dropped the ball there. Anyway, I figured I needed to start writing things out now, because it’s crazy how fast you start to forget details, and November 28th, 2015 is not a day I want to forget anything from. So… here. we. go!

Let’s back track to a few months before the proposal. The proposal wasn’t a complete shock to me as we talked about marriage often and knew that is what we both wanted at some point. In the fall of 2015, I was going into my second year of college, and Hayden was going into his third year. We knew that I would finish my degree at the end of 3.5 years, and Hayden’s PT program was 6.5 years {yikes}. So, even though we knew we wanted to be married, we weren’t sure we were ready for that big of a transition or how it would work with schooling or jobs someday. The topic of “when” really started to be brought up more and more as the school year approached. Hayden was always the optimistic “it will all work out – we don’t need to know every detail of the rest of our lives – God’s in control – follow God’s timing,” and while I wanted to trust the unknown plan that God was leading me down, I was very “oh my goodness, you have to know when everything is going to happen and have a complete plan before deciding on anything.” Oh my gosh!

Anyway, I prayed for God to clearly reveal to me his plan and to give me comfort and peace when it was time to get married. One day in September or October I felt it. A burden was lifted off me, and I felt that God was saying “you’ve got this!” So, I pretty much told Hayden that whenever he was ready, I was. Then things started to switch. Every time I would want to talk about getting married {since I was all “game on”} Hayden wouldn’t want to talk about it. It felt like he NEVER wanted to discuss the topic, or if we started to talk about it, I would share a bunch, and he would barely graze over his feelings. Y’all, I’m not going to lie, it was driving me crazy. I had finally said “hey yo – I’m ready to go,” and now, he didn’t want to talk about it?!

So, fast forward to Thanksgiving night 2015, we were in the car headed from Southern Illinois to Hayden’s family in Indianapolis. Once again the topic of marriage was brought up, and I was all gung-ho, and Hayden was silent. I’m a little embarrassed about how much I freaked out, but y’all, I freaked out. I started crying and telling Hayden I just wanted to know his thoughts. Then, he stopped me in the middle of my freak-out, and said “if you would just wait!” At that point, I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I had a feeling something was up. So, I calmed down, and we went on to have a great trip with our family and not bringing up the topic again. {Side note: Hayden told me later that he almost pulled the car over right then and proposed. He was doing all that he could to not spill the beans. Sorry Hayd!!!}

Then, two days later, we headed down to Hayden’s parents to put up their Christmas tree. This was my first time putting up the tree with them, so I wasn’t sure how they did everything. When I arrived, they had a camera on a tripod in the middle of the living room. They told me they video taped putting up the tree?! {How was I SO blind?!?!} I thought that was a very weird tradition, but I didn’t want to ruin anything so I went along with flow. We ended up stopping half way through decorating to eat dinner. I thought that was weird as well because in my house we focus entirely on the tree until it is up.

The Klockengas had invited my parents {and brother who couldn’t make it} down for dinner. After we all ate, it was time to put more decorations on the tree. My parents brought down one of my favorite Christmas movies It’s A Wonderful Life, and before I knew it, Hayden’s mom, Dianna pulled me aside to show me their new family ornament for the year. I looked down at the ornament, and it had all of our names on stockings, including mine. I thought it was a little bold since I wasn’t officially a part of the family, but our families had hinted at us getting married for several months so I didn’t think too much of it. That was until I went to put the ornament on the tree. Then all of a sudden, I felt something crazy in my gut. I knew what was about it happen. I took SOOOO long putting that ornament on the tree. I turned around, and Hayden had my ring hanging off a bow ornament for me to put on the tree.

Then, everything got extremely quiet. Hayden went down on one knee and said a whole lot of stuff that I can’t remember. All I remember was leaning over and continually asking him “are you sure? are you REALLY sure??” Then, he finished his speech, we kissed, and I took the ring. I really thought I said yes, but Hayden ensures me that I never officially said yes. We had a few minutes to ourselves, and then, we came back inside to a small engagement party.

I didn’t sleep at all that night.

It was so sweet and so wonderful – especially since I love Christmas. Hayden later told me that he stopped commenting and talking about marriage because he was so worried he would share to much and spill the beans. So he thought if he stopped talking about it I would forget about it!

Anyway, I seriously can’t believe it’s been 3 YEARS!! So much has happened, and I’m so grateful for where are our lives are. I can’t even begin to imagine what life will be like three years from today. I’m sure it’ll just keep getting better.

xoxo,

Here are some of our engagement photos from the incredible Jessica Lauren Photography!

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