How we met   "Will you be my best friend if I offer you my heart cause it's already yours."        -The Ataris   Ryan and I both went to the same university, Florida State and had mutual friends. We had been goods friends, or "fools," as I sometimes say, for a long time before we ever started dating. The first official chapter of our love story began on February 14, 2001. I had been working late at my part time job at a local hot spot near FSU's campus. When I finally arrived home all I wanted to do was kick off my shoes and call it a night. That is, until I opened the door to my room. Right then and there I knew my heart would never be the same. Every inch of my room was covered by a massive array of red balloons with the exception of one white balloon that was tied to an official Droze clothes t-shirt and a card. Imprinted on the shirt were the words: My #1 Fool. Ryan then showed up on my doorway and asked to be my Valentine. The rest is history and the future of our lives together lies ahead.
	The Engagement   "You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love."     ~ Henry Drummond   Months after applying and interviewing for a popular and extreme reality television show, Ryan finally got the call. "Carolina, that was a producer from NBC, they want to fly me out to LA for a week. I'm going to be on Fear Factor," said Ryan as he grabbed my hand and looked at me smiling from ear to ear.   He had only been gone a few days and already I missed him so much. He called me every night but he gave me nothing, zero, zilch, nada not one detail about what he was doing. I didn't know the name of the contestants; I didn't know if he had made it through the first rounds, I mean nothing. He told me he signed a legal contract and he would be sued for a million dollars if he talked about the show at all. (Side note: When Ryan says something he means it. It's one of the qualities that I love the most about him. He is extremely trustworthy, honest and stubborn as heck! If you tell him a secret and ask him not to tell, he won't. If he signed a legal contract for a million dollars, you better believe his lips are sealed.) I promised him, I wouldn't even mention the show until the contract was done. This turned out to be much more difficult then I thought.   Six months, not weeks, but MONTHS went by and every Monday night during those months we watched Fear Factor together without fail. I tried to get little clues or hints from him every time we watched but he wouldn't budge. I was convinced he had lost. I figured there was no way he could have won the show and kept it a secret for that long. Then he got the call. "Carolina that was one of the contestants that was on the show with me, she said our episode is going to air in two days," said Ryan as he looked at me nonchalantly.   I called everyone I knew and told them to tune into the show. We invited a crew of our closest friends, bought some munchies, set up a few different television sets around the house and threw a Fear Factor bash in honor of Ryan's debut on television. While we were setting things up at the house, I noticed Ryan was extra nervous but I didn't think much of it. He was, after all, about to be on television. Who wouldn't be nervous? As the day turned into night, more and more people started showing up at the house. Soon we had a house full of peeps and televisions blaring everywhere. I was so anxious and excited to finally get to watch him and see what he experienced that week.   The night we started dating Ryan took my breath away. This night he swept me off my feet and sent me flying to outer space and I have yet to land back. My poor heart got no brakes that night. It literally skipped a beat when I heard him say on national television that I had inspired him to go on the show. Then it rose to my throat as a as I watched him compete and conquer one crazy stunt after another with complete dignity. When I say crazy, I mean insane. Ryan was bolted down to an underwater car, where he had to unlock himself as the car spun in circles. He was then forced to eat roaches, worms and even TARANTULAS! The grand finale was a walk on a plank seven stories high as a wall kept closing in on him making the plank shorter and shorter. I'm telling you my nerves were having a field day.   His hand was intertwined with mine as we sat on our couch surrounded by so many people we love and watched the host reveal the winner of the show, "Evidently fear is not a factor for Ryan Droze!" The whole house was screaming with excitement. I was chanting and raving so proud of my man. Then, I heard his voice. I turned around and looked at him as he spoke and quickly calmed the room down. "I have one more thing I have to say, Ryan said as he looked straight into my eyes. "Carolina, will you marry me?" Never in my life have I felt more beautiful, special or loved. On April 25, 2005, I said yes to marry my best friend and the love of my life.   If you would like to see some short videos of the action live at the party. Please click on the links below. The files are not small so please be patient. Perhaps click a link and grab yourself a healthy snack or glass of water while you wait.
	The finalle of the episode. Windows Media Player Version Real Player Version Quicktime Version The Proposal Windows Media Player Version Real Player Version Quicktime Version

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