Things are coming up roses for Clare Crawley.
Last week, the Bachelorette alum got engaged to Mascot Sports CEO Ryan Dawkins during a dreamy lantern release ceremony at the RiSE Festival near Las Vegas. While the proposal came just a month after the couple went Instagram official with their romance, Ryan has been in Clare's life for quite some time, according to the 41-year-old.
"We've known each other through social media," she exclusively told E! News at DIRECTV's Wives Night Out on Oct. 13. "We've been friends for a while, but he has just been somebody in my life who has brought so much calmness."
Explaining how she had previously felt "drained and empty," Clare said her relationship with Ryan put a spark back into her life. "With Ryan, love is just easy," she continued. "He really does add to my happiness and he fills up my bucket on my days where I am not happy and I don't feel loved."
And not only is Ryan a total "gentleman," but Clare considers him "the yin to my yang" as well.
"He's very grounding, very masculine, which allows me to be in my feminine," the hairstylist shared. "I don't feel this need or this urge to stick up for myself, which I have felt in the past and can come off a certain way in relationships. With him, it's more of a receiving—where he just loves on me and is always just so good to me."
She added, "Just to have him in my life has just been the biggest blessing."
With her engagement to Ryan, the Bachelor Nation star is also excited to become a stepmom to his two daughters. After all, as Clare explained, the girls were among the first people to learn about the engagement. "The first person I reached out to was my sister," she recalled. "At the same time, Ryan has two daughters and we reached out to them, so it's kind of like all in one moment."
According to Clare, the outpour of love she's received over the engagement has been "overwhelming in the best way possible."
"So many people have reached out," she said, adding that she's even heard from crew members who worked on The Bachelorette. "Producers from the show are like, 'We can tell you light up about him. We can tell how much he loves you.'"
Click here to read about Clare's wedding plans.