It was picture-perfect from the moment they locked eyes on August 4, 2008: Joe saw Abbey from across the Parish Hall in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and Abbey saw...this other guy, an old childhood friend, standing next to Joe. Joe fell in love on the spot; Abbey questioned Joe's choice of velcro sandals. Regardless, the pair exchanged MSN Messenger handles (remember, this was 2008). Come February, Joe and his family were attending weekly Sunday services at St. Stephen's, where Abbey's family had been members since her birth. After months of trying to impress each other through witty emails with as many big words as they could muster, Joe asked Abbey out in July in a message complete with a YouTube link to a sappy love song. A week later, Abbey dumped Joe over email. It wouldn't be a middle school romance without drama. Eager to start high school on a new page, Abbey reached out to Joe on the eve of their freshman year. The instant messaging that night lasted for hours. Their feelings grew throughout the fall, resulting in a date to the movies over winter break. (Abbey obsessed over her outfit for far too long, prompting her mom to ask if this was a date, prompting Abbey to freak out.) Just over a month later, on January 23, 2011, Joe asked Abbey to be his girlfriend for the second time — and this one actually stuck, instigating a year and a half being driven to dates by their parents until they finally turned 16. From there, the world has been their oyster. Just before that first movie date, Joe gave Abbey a single red rose as the bell tolled midnight after Christmas Eve mass at St. Stephen's (under the intimidating eye of The Other Joe). Each year, Joe brought another rose, and then another. Seven years later, on December 25, 2017, Joe gave Abbey the requisite bouquet of eight roses — coincidentally, the number of characters in "Marry Me?" — as the snow fell on her grandmother's farm. Here's to the next ten years.