We're getting married!

By this point, any bit of interest I had in this class was completely gone. We had a test coming up in a few days, and I hadn’t paid attention in class for weeks. So, like any 19-year-old college student, I needed to start studying all the material just days before the exam. There was an exam study group with the teaching assistant on a Friday, a week before the test, and I was convinced that after that, I’d be ready. So Friday comes around. I’m sitting in the study group waiting for it to start. The room is packed, clearly I’m not the only one cramming. I find a seat in the back, pull out my pen and notebook, and prepare to pretend I’ve been keeping up all semester. And then, seconds before it begins, in walks the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She’s wearing an 80’s windbreaker, holding a coffee in one hand and her backpack in the other. At that moment, I’m silently praying she’ll weave her way through the crowd and somehow end up sitting next to me in the back. And sure enough… she does. The study group starts. The teaching assistant begins reviewing the exam topics. This windbreaker-wearing, coffee-smelling beauty immediately pulls out her laptop and starts typing every single word coming out of this guy’s mouth. Not only is she getting all the information, but she’s also highlighting, organizing, and adding notes. I hadn’t even picked up my pen. I was in shock. As the study group continued, I wasn’t thinking about the exam at all. I was thinking about how I’m going to get her number. After an hour of mentally rehearsing every possible approach, the study group ends. She started packing up her things. My heart was racing. This was my moment. And suddenly, everything I had practiced in my head disappears. So I panicked and asked the only thing I could think of: “Would you mind sending me your notes?” She smiled and said, “Of course. I’d be happy to.” I wrote my email down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. That night in my apartment, I waited anxiously for the email notification, praying she didn’t throw my paper straight into the trash. And then, the notification comes. She sent the notes. And her number. I was thrilled. Not only did I now have a way to talk to her, but I might actually pass this exam. I spent the rest of that night, and honestly, most of the weekend, drafting the perfect response. You would think this email was some grand romantic masterpiece. It wasn’t. I thanked her for the notes and asked if she’d like to meet at the library to study together. She said yes. We met at the library before the test… and I don’t think we ever talked about HIST 1320. We laughed. We talked. We got to know each other. It was amazing. After that, we started texting regularly, checking in on each other, pretending to study, and sending way too many emojis. I was hooked. She was the coolest person I had ever met. Right before the exam, I texted her a deal: If she scored higher, I would cook her dinner. If I scored higher, she would cook for me. She agreed. I knew immediately I was losing that bet. Friday comes. We take the exam. We get our grades back and meet outside to compare. She, of course, scored higher. Which meant I had to cook her dinner. I was so happy. She came over, hung out with me and my roommate, and I made chicken alfredo. She loved it. From that point on, we became inseparable. She would come over and cook for us. We’d study together, grab coffee, she’d beat me in card games, we’d ride office chairs down parking garages like idiots, and hang out at the river. We were best friends. On January 18, 2018, I asked her to be my girlfriend. And she said yes. Eight years later, she’s still the coolest person I’ve ever met. She’s still the girl in the 80’s windbreaker who walked into that study group and completely changed my life. What started as asking for her notes turned into finding my best friend. And now, I get to marry her.

I was wearing an outrageous, black and hot pink, checkered, 1980's windbreaker that I had recently thrifted with a Gamma Phi Beta sorority t-shirt and my white high top chucks. Like any Martin (or at least one related to my dad) I was running about 5 minutes late to the study session for my History class. When I walked in, I took a seat in the back of the classroom. I remember taking detailed and color-coded notes on my laptop, and saying the answer to one of the study questions asked by the teaching assistant under my breath. The cute boy sitting next to me said something along the lines of, “you should have said it louder so everyone could hear it,” and I just smiled at him. Little did I know, those were probably the first words shared with my future husband! When class was over, Colt asked if I could email my study guide to him. I naively thought it was because he noticed how awesome and colorful it was and agreed to it immediately. A few days later, I got an email from him asking to study at the campus library for our upcoming exam. I remember thinking he seemed nice and funny, was incredibly handsome and I was excited to get to know him better ... and I guess it wouldn't hurt my test score. We met for our study session, and in the most immediate and natural way I have ever experienced, we hit it off, like we had been best friends forever. He was - and still is - kind, charismatic, thoughtful, hilarious, brilliant and magnetic to me. We made a bet that whoever would make the lower score on the exam would cook the other one dinner, and jump into the river. We both made the exact same score - an 84 - so we each cooked a meal for each other, and jumped into the river together. He made me chicken alfredo with homemade alfredo sauce - major green flag. What followed was months of friendship. We studied together, met each other’s friends and family, and spent every moment we could together. We grew so close, and he was my best friend, but I also had a HUGE crush on him! We went on our first official date on January 18, 2018, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Eight years later, we have created the most incredible life together, filled with love, support and dedication. We have grown into adults and pet parents, homeowners and through it all, remained best friends. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our life together, and celebrate the love that we are so incredibly lucky to share.