It was my Sophomore year of college, I had some time between classes and walked past a blood bus at school and decided to do it when I saw the free gift. When I got on the bus I saw "that cute girl" from class. After making some small talk, and being brutally bruised by the phlebotomist, I learned her name was Bryce. We continued talking and I was joking around the whole time making her laugh. I got my free umbrella for donating and was acting like it was a walking stick and limped out. Bryce was cracking up and ended up inviting me to her sorority event that night. I went with a fraternity brother of mine and talked with her that night. I wanted her number but felt weird just getting hers because we were with another mutual friend all night, so I got both. Fast forward a few days and I texted her to come to my fraternity date function. She said yes and we had a great time there. When I dropped her off I went in to kiss her. She pulled her head away and timidly said "no, sorry".... Yeah, she swerved me. After that, we had an awkward hug goodbye and I didn't think we would be talking much after that.

I walked past a blood bus on campus and figured, why not? I was in there donating and I recognized the tall guy who just walked in from my nursing school classes. I had never talked to him before, but smiled and said hi. He sat next to me and started talking. He was very funny and made jokes the whole time, but I remember him wincing a lot as they tried to get blood, so I thought he was a little wimpy. Wimpiness aside, we talked and laughed while we were there and when we were leaving he pretended his gift umbrella was a walking stick. Like he legitimately was limping. It was hilarious and he was cute, so told him he should come to my sorority gala that night. He ended up coming with some friends and we chatted that night. When he was leaving he asked for my friend's number, which confused me because I thought he was into me. **John swears he asked for mine that night too, but he didn't** Later on, I got a text from a number I didn't know saying it was John, so I wasn't really sure if he was interested or not. We talked briefly in class the next few days and then he texted me to go to a polo date function with him. I was with my dad at a Lightning game when he did and told my dad I was surprised that this guy who I've barely talked to asked me. I went anyways since some friends of mine were going and had a blast. We played cornhole, watched some polo, stomped in the holes, and held hands, all the cute things you would expect. On the way back to Tampa I asked him if he wanted to come to my formal and he said yes. He pulled into the driveway to drop me off and looked at me like he wanted to kiss me. I remember panicking because I didn't want to start something with someone from school who I would see every day if things ended badly. So in that split second when he leaned in, I turned my head, leaned back, and said "no sorry". I could tell he was a mix of mortified and pissed that I dodged his kiss. So we ended it with a very awkward hug and I got out of the car. Classes were uncomfortable the next few days for sure. I can't remember the specifics but our friends from school said we both wanted to back out of the formal, but were too awkward to tell the other so we ended up going together. Thank goodness for that because once we were there and started having fun and it was great. I finally let him kiss me that night and the rest is history!

At the end of Bryce's family vacation in Asia, we decided to extend ours a few days and go to Singapore just us. We ate some amazing food, Bryce bungee jumped, and we sweated more than we had in our entire lives. It was New Year's Eve, the day before it was time to head home, so we decided to hang out by the pool and just relax for a few hours. Afterward, we went to our 10-course dinner. It was DELICIOUS, and the food was super exotic, but I (being the organized and slightly neurotic person that I am) was super nervous that we were going to miss the New Year's party later that night. We had been at dinner for 3 hours already and we were only on course 5.... John was very calm as always, telling me we could leave, but I didn't want to do that and didn't want to be late, clearly being very rational. We ended up staying until the end of dinner and it was without a doubt worth it. We hustled into our uber to find out 2 minutes later that all the streets were closed. So now we are walking, more like jogging, the 40 minutes to the Marina Bay Sands hotel. John swears I lowered my shoulder and was barrelling people down, which I will neither confirm nor deny. We ended up getting there and I was still in a slightly less-than-pleasant mood. John got us drinks and told me to relax and take in the view. It really was breathtaking. If you have ever seen the movie Crazy Rich Asians, you know what I'm talking about. You can look over the entire bay from both directions and are at the highest point, magical. The fireworks started and these are without a doubt the best we both had ever seen. It was so detailed with drone and laser shows, the works. John tells me to turn around for us to take a picture and as I'm smiling he gets down on one knee. If you've seen the video I was shocked, my open mouth the entire video proves that. I was so excited!! In typical John fashion, he proposed with a stunt ring, which I love equally as much as the real one. It was an amazing vacation, we both came back with unforgettable memories and a fiancé.