The year is 2016. The Chainsmokers have just released their hit single "Closer," and Facebook is how you met your roommates (is that still how it goes?). We ended up finding roommates that dated, and that fateful arrangement forced us to meet the summer before college to make sure we all got along after I slid into Jake's DMs (This means I messaged him). Since we had both just graduated and were headed to the beach to enjoy some time with high school friends, we met at Mama Kwan's in the Outer Banks. What began as what we call our first "friendship date" that day quickly evolved into our first "real" date at the Cheese Shop, and eventually driving back and forth between Williamsburg and Chesapeake all summer on more actual dates. That summer flew by, and eventually August (and with it, the migration to college) came. Although we had agreed to take the relationship slowly, since neither of us was ready for one, we began dating on August 21... five days after we moved into our freshman dorms and the day before we even started classes. The years went by, all our best friends became mutual, we adopted a dog (we love you Indy!!!), and we learned (are still learning) how to keep our relationship centered around love and Jesus. Eventually, Lauren was banned from speaking about our future and the w-word, and Jake began to hatch a plan to drop down on one knee. We are not the most patient people, and his proposal demonstrates that perfectly. He got the ring on a Friday, asked Lauren's parents for her hand on the Saturday of that same weekend, drove to Blacksburg on Monday, and proposed to Lauren that Tuesday, March 10th in typical Hokie fashion at the Pylons. And that (future) kids, is how I met your mother. -Jake