M: I worked at Mountain View in first grade for a couple of years. I moved up to third grade in 2023. That year, a teacher on the first grade team, Kathy, joined the Tusculum University Community band. She made a new friend named Brock who told her to set him up with a teacher friend. She chose a first grade teacher named Laura, who was very good friends with me at the time. B: After a couple of years "finding myself" (still looking), I asked a friend from community band named Kathy Baker if she had any single friends from work whom she could set me up with. She said she did, in fact, and gave my number to one of her fellow teachers named Laura. M: After the date, Laura called me and said, "I just went on the worst first date of my life. Do you want to go for a walk and hear about it?" Obviously I said yes. The things Laura didn't like about Brock seemed silly to me, and a lot of them sounded like things I *would* like. He had a sticker on the back of his car that said Birds Aren't Real (my favorite conspiracy), he talked with his hands too much (we love an animated man), and he was slightly too old for her (but not for me!). When Kathy texted me later asking if she could give him my number, I, again, obviously said yes. B: Laura was *not it*. I think the both of us knew that within the first five minutes or so, which is where a normal person would have found a quick exit. I instead thought it would be a great opportunity to try out very bad dad jokes, make known my very hottest takes, and generally have a little bit of good-natured teasing. I thought it was great fun! Laura, I think, did not. I returned to Kathy with the post-mortem, and asked if there was anybody else that she knew. She said, and I am quoting verbatim here, "Yes, but she is a little crazy. She might be too wild for you." Challenge accepted. M: Brock texted me on a Sunday. We facetimed Monday for our "first date" because he was sick, had an in person date Wednesday, and he asked me to be his girlfriend one month later. We will always honor Kathy for making this happen, and Laura for saying no. B: Laura, if you're reading this, Starbucks is not a local coffee place, liking Joey on 'Friends' is perfectly normal, and I finished my 2023 Christmas shopping without you, thanks. I'm thankful that your worst first date led to the love of my life.

M: A few weeks before he proposed, Brock's SIL took me to look at rings. I thought I wanted something unique, horizontal, and intricate. We tried on a ton of rings before a jeweler brought out a solitaire ring. It looked like something out of a fairytale and not like anything I ever thought I wanted. I tried it on and was just in love. I sent Brock ten or so options but kept coming back to that one ring. The next day, he told me he had tried to buy it and someone already had. He kept saying to call the jeweler and they would tell me it had sold. He told me he didn't want to propose until after Christmas so he had time to save up money for the ring. I was crushed and I pouted about it for so long. B: The *second* that I received the text from Maddie about the ring she liked, I called the jewelry store and told them to hold it for me: I would come by that afternoon to buy it. The next steps were throwing her off the scent. After calling both her mom and brother, I learned that Maddie had been expecting a proposal eminently. I simply couldn't have that. Hell or high water, this was going to be a surprise. I spent the next few days downplaying her assumptions, openly talking about how I wanted to postpone any kind of proposal, and assuring her that despite my efforts, her dream ring had already sold. It SUCKED a whole lot fibbing to her, but I kept telling myself it was for the best. I wanted to give her the biggest surprise she'd ever had. M: I had had an awful day. It was a Friday so my students were crazy. I was so overstimulated. I called my mom and told her I wanted him to propose so badly that I wanted to go through his suitcase that was already in my car to find a ring. She dissuaded me. I had to go home to pick up something Brock forgot which added 30 minutes to my drive, and I really don't like driving. Traffic was bad and the sun was in my eyes. I complained as soon as Brock got in the car. I was grumpy. At one point he told me he'd turn around and just go home. That only made me grumpier. B: I was a nervous wreck. I had been for days. That Friday I had been rehearsing the proposal over and over again to myself at work. I was distracted and in my own head trying to make sure that I had the entire plan in my head. When Maddie arrived, she was just in the sourest mood. It wasn't that I didn't understand (hell, my downplaying wanting to get engaged surely didn't help), it was that I really wanted the proposal to be as perfect for her as I could make it. In the car during the drive, she was snippy and I was distant (thinking still of what words I was going to say) and was willing to put the entire weekend on hold if her mood couldn't be improved. M: I was trying to put the cold groceries away and Brock kept asking me to do things. I kept saying no. Finally, he told me to just come around the corner. I did, and he had the ring I had wanted the whole time in his hand. B: I think it was actually the perfect proposal. Of *course* she wasn't going to make it easy. But luckily, Maddie and I do not need easy. We just need each other.