We're getting married!

If you are looking for a romantic story of a knight in shining armor swooping in to save the day, this isn't that story. It's better! Well, at least we think so. Let me take you back to the time when Blackberry was king and Britney was queen; back to when Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana and Soulja Boy cranked that; let me take you to the year 2007. It was in the technology room in Kennedy Middle School, back when seats where assigned based on alphabetical order. Cory sat next to Brooke. Cory persuaded Brooke to be his friend. Cory and Brooke enjoyed a long friendship, like more than 10 years long, but we will get to that part of the story later. It started off in the computer lab. Then occasional chats in the hallway. The story was pretty bland until high school, when Cory convinced Brooke to start coming to the gym after school so he could be her "personal trainer." At the time I knew nothing about working out, other than drinking raw eggs from a cup like Rocky, but as Richard Branson put it, "if somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes - then learn how to do it later". So Cory did just that, anything he needed to do to get more time with Brooke, he did. But Cory and Brooke weren't meant to be high school sweethearts, so we stayed friends through high school. Then Cory went to Virginia for college and Brooke stayed in Aiken. Thanks to Snapchat, we stayed connected. After one semester, Cory left Virginia and we were again at the same school. Alas, love was not yet written in the stars. We stayed friends, again, thanks to Snapchat for a while but grew apart after Cory left for Columbia. We went our separate ways and it wasn't until the world survived the Tide Pod Challenge and Thanos' snapped his fingers, did our paths meet again. It's funny how things work out because after many years of absence, fitness brought us together. We met up for hill sprints in the fall of 2018 and the rest is history.

If you polled 1,000 people asking if they thought I was a romantic, you'd get 1,000 different answers but without a doubt you'd get 1,000 iterations of "no". After years of suffering through Hallmark movies, romcom's, and the dreaded Christmas romances (which apparently are not just saved for December), it was finally my turn to write a sappy script to make Brooke cry. The plan was perfect, the venue was better and the timing was incredible. Brooke and I had won a free photography session from a favorite photographer, Araka Walker, and we decided to do it the day before Valentine's Day so Brooke could post sappy love photos on Instagram for her favorite holiday, Valentine's Day. The proposal spot was going to be on a floating dock, overlooking a lake, with a large tree, draped in Spanish moss hanging just off the back edge of the dock. The sun was going to be setting at the time of the proposal so the pictures were going to be magical. Apparently, I'm not much of a picture guy, but Araka thought they would be. I was busy thinking of ways to tie a strand of fishing wire around the engagement ring so I didn't have a random fit of sneezing and accidentally drop it in the water before I could put it on her home insurance policy. I am such a romantic mush. Everything was going to be perfect, I asked her parents, I bought the perfect ring, I had the outfit ironed (that's how you know things were serious), but the one thing I didn't have was the approval of mother nature. She thought it'd be a great time for a storm. So I thought to myself, not only am I going to have to reschedule this surprise, but I'm going to have to buy a Valentines Day gift! Thankfully, Araka had other plans. We set up a mini-session under a covered pergola with flowers and candles and a fancy velour couch and a secret pose that was to be my cue. Brooke had no idea I was in cahoots with the photographer! So when the time came, I dropped down to one knee, pinched myself and spoke her name.

Together: * eating Tacos * drinking 19 Crimes wine * laughing at each other * being vegetables on a couch * happy Brooke, alone: * taking photos * editing those photos * drawing, painting, or designing, or a combination of the three * working out * on TikTok * missing Cory Cory, alone: * watching Star Wars * if not Star Wars, then something Marvel * if not Marvel, then The Office (of course the American version, cause USA, duh) * drinking *black* iced coffee - even in the winter * working out * missing Brooke