We're getting married.

It was the fall of 2014 and I was riding the high of having just moved in with my best friends. My roommate’s friend, Caroline Sladic (Jac’s Maid of Honor), stopped by our house to welcome us to the neighborhood. That was why I didn’t think twice the following day when my roommate, Steve Sykes (my groomsman), asked me to help grab some things from Caroline’s house. Little did I know, “some things” was an entire basket of dirty laundry that he left at their house for a full calendar year (while his future wife, who he didn’t meet for another 2.5 years, was living in their house…but that’s a story for another time). When we got to Caroline’s house, rather than pick up the clothes, exchange some pleasantries, and be on our way, Steve decided it was best to stay and wash all of his clothes at their house. This was my nightmare scenario: stuck for 2 hours at the house of a girl I had just met. After about 15 minutes of trying in vain to list our mutual friends, I heard a voice ring out from a back bedroom teasing Steve for his poor laundry choices. That was when I first saw her. The rest of the time seemed to melt away as I focused all my efforts on trying to make Jac laugh without seeming like I was trying too hard. Now, both Jac and I will swear up and down that the other had a boyfriend / girlfriend at the time, and that is why we didn’t see each other again for months. But once we reunited, I didn’t make the same mistake twice. That being said, I didn't move too quickly. It took about 4 months of talking every single day, multiple full days spent together, and meeting her entire family at the mojito-pocalypse 4th of July party (you don’t want to know) for me to ask her on our first date. When at the end of the night I pulled Jac in for our first kiss, she let out a big exasperated sigh and just said “ugh finally.” And I felt the exact same way.

To put it delicately, Dave is not the most subtle guy. Typically, I would have felt pretty smart if I had guessed the month, or even the season of a proposal. With Dave, I had him pinned down to a 48hr window. That being said, credit where credit is due; he did have some tricks up his sleeve. THE BAIT His best move was using my roommate, Sam, as bait to get me to Austin. Sam suggested that we meet in Austin for brunch, and to Dave’s credit, he did a good job of pretending to complain about how early we’d have to wake up to get there in time (although looking back I don’t think he was faking that part). I’d always wanted to stay at Hotel San Jose, so I not-so-subtly “suggested” that we stay there, not knowing that he had booked us their master suite a month before. THE SWITCH Dave was weirdly quiet the entire car ride from Houston to Austin. I just thought he was being a dud and pretending not to know the words to every Kacey Musgraves song (he does). When we got to Austin, Sam told us she was “running late,” so we decided to drop off our bags at the hotel. When we arrived, Dave asked the front desk for a tour (??). Uh okay, my dude… IT’S A HOTEL: there’s the bar, there’s the pool, what else do you need to see? But, I went along with it, and the tour went about how I expected. “Over here you’ll find our bar, open from 12-midnight…and for our guests we have a pool area…” But then we turned a corner, and in a secluded courtyard was a table with a bottle of champagne, and I knew. THE PROPOSAL I’ll be honest, I blacked out. I don’t remember a single word Dave said. All I remember was that it was just me and him, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Dave made my answer pretty easy, because I couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend my life with. And to think, it was all because of a dirty basket of laundry. Steve - my man, how you did not notice that you were missing a BASKETFUL of clothes for an entire year never ceases to amaze me, but thanks.