HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Johnathon Schaech received an early Christmas gift when his girlfriend Jana Kramer accepted his wedding proposal on Dec. 22.

"It was the best present ever," the actor tells People of the couple's engagement. "It was the happiest moment of my life."

Schaech proposed while the couple was visiting his hometown of Edgewood, Maryland. The two have been dating since costarring in the 2008 thriller Prom Night.

"I can't wait to make Jana my wife and have a family," he told the mag.

This will be the second marriage for Schaech, 40, who split with ex-wife Christina Applegate in 2007.

It will be the first trip to the altar for the 26-year-old Kramer, whose television credits include One Tree Hill, 90210 and Entourage.