I'm not sure if you can tell how surprised I am! Totally shocked!

For those of you who do not know who I am, I was the woman who became an immediate fan favorite and was the final woman remaining on the finale of The Bachelor, with Brad Womack, in November 2007. I found out that I was tapped to star as the next “Bachelorette” on an episode of The Ellen Degeners Show that aired in January of 2008. My season of The Bachelorette aired in the summer of 2008. It was a wild ride!! I chose someone but, in the end, it was not meant to be. I have also appeared on such shows as EXTRA, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel, Good Morning America, Hollywood 411, TV Guide Channel, E! News, Entertainment Tonight and many more. In 2008, I was nominated and won the Reality Performer of the Year at the FOX Reality Awards. This was so exciting for me because fans voted every day for me to win this amazing award. Most recently, I was the co-host of the daily television show titled “Get Married” on Lifetime. I now reside in Los Angeles, where I have finally found the man of my dreams, planning a fall wedding, and most importantly, making all my dreams come true.

Stephen and I met through his brother, Michael Stagliano. Michael and I know each other because we were both on different season’s of the ABC hit show, The Bachelorette. Michael thought it would be fun if Stephen and I began dating so we could all hang out! I don’t think any of us thought we would hit it off as well as we did!

Stephen planned out my proposal perfectly. My dad was in town visiting Memorial day weekend, 2010. It was a Sunday…the end of the weekend. I knew we had to take my dad to the airport that evening to head back to the east coast. Stephen kept insisting that we go to the beach, an hour out of our way..I might add, to have dinner with his parents. When we arrived at the beach, everyone was being kind of strange…so, I excused myself to the restroom. When I returned, the only person standing in the room was Stephen’s mother, Lynn. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and she was crying. My first instinct was, “This is it!! He’s proposing!!” But, seconds went by for what seems like forever and Stephen’s mom was still crying. Then, my feeling turned to fear as I blurted out, “Mama Bear, you’re scaring me.”

We laugh about it to this day because she cried which was so special but, I could not prepare myself for the beautiful things she was about to say. Stephen’s mother told me about how she had prayed for a woman like me to come into Stephen’s life, how she is happy to have me as a daughter, and that she loved me so much. Then, she hugged me and walked me about 25 yards down the beach to Stephen’s father, Frank. Frank did the same thing, told me that he already considered me a daughter, he loves me very much, and that he wants me to know that I now have two father’s to trust and confide in. Frank then walked me another 25 yards down the beach to Stephen’s twin brother, and my friend, Michael. Michael and I just cried because we were both so happy! Michael told me he loved me and was happy to call me his sister. Michael then walked me 25 yards down the beach to my very own father. My dad hugged me and kissed me, told me he loved me, and how proud he was of me. My father then walked me down the beach toward the ocean and in between two sand dunes, standing in the middle of flowers laid around him; my father handed me off to Stephen. Stephen told me how much he loved me, how happy he was that he found me, and that he wanted to love me forever. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes and then noticed the gorgeous 2 carat, asher cut diamond ring that he designed with my best friend and her jewlery store in Boston, King Jewlers. My mouth hung open and I fell in love with my ring so much that I have yet to stop staring at it to this day! This will forever be one of the best days of my life. It was a perfect moment and a perfect proposal….