Every night Brittany Pond and Ashley Angel would make a wish together at 11:11 p.m., but Nov. 11, 2011 was different.

Pond, a freshman psychology major, and Angel, a senior sociology major, sat under the Booth Library clock tower wrapped in blankets in 40-degree weather at around 10:15 p.m.

Angel had no idea how her life would change in about an hour.

At 11:11 p.m. on Nov. 11, Pond proposed to Angel, and Angel said “Yes.”

“I realized in August that proposing on 11/11/11 at 11:11 p.m. would be perfect because we always make a wish at 11:11 p.m. and this would be the ultimate wish,” Pond said. “During the actual proposal I was so nervous that I held the box upside down.”

Pond and Angel have been in a relationship for about a year and four months.

Angel said she did not expect anything when Pond told her to close her eyes and make a wish at 11:11 p.m. since it was a reoccurring aspect of their relationship.

“Even when she told me to close my eyes and make a wish at 11:11 p.m., I still wasn’t suspicious since we do it every night, but then I knew it was coming once she took off the blanket and I just couldn’t believe that it was happening,” Angel said. “Once she got down on one knee I started crying because I was so happy.”

Pond said she decided to propose under the clock tower because it was symbolic.

“The time element was really important to the proposal so it was symbolic to propose under the clock tower, and I thought it would be a cute romantic place,” Pond said. “I thought about taking her to Fox Ridge because we have a lot of memories there but then I think she would have gotten suspicious and start putting two and two together so the element of surprise was key.”

Prior to the proposal, Pond gave Angel a sticky note every day in November with the top 11 reasons why she loves her.

Pond said she had to be crafty to make sure Angel did not suspect the surprise proposal. Also, they had talked about getting engaged a few months ago but they agreed to wait until Angel graduated so Angel did not expect the proposal to happen until May or June.

“It was very hard trying to hide it for a couple of months because we have a joint account and she saw that there was something from Zales, which normally she never checks the billing statements, so when she saw it I tried to play it off by saying that Christmas is around the corner and she shouldn’t ruin her Christmas present,” Pond said.

Pond asked Angel’s father’s permission to marry her on Oct. 29 and began planning the proposal.

“I thought it was really creative, and it embodied something that has been a part of our relationship with making a wish at 11:11 p.m. so it was really adorable,” Angel said. “Everything seemed to fade away, and it didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing. It was the perfect moment and was everything I thought it would be.”

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].