We’re getting married!

Hey everyone! It’s Emily here & this is the story of how Jake & I met. It was our Freshman year at Cortland & fate had put us in the same dorm. After some time & asking around, I found out that Jake had a girlfriend. That didn’t stop me from admiring from afar & trying to get him to notice me, like that one time I skipped my floor meeting so I would have to go to his, or purposely using the exit that required me to pass by his room even when the main exit was more convenient! Fast forward to the LAST DAY of freshman year, my sleuthing paid off & I learned that Jake was single, so I finally got the courage to talk to him for the first time. We talked all break & got to know each other, I had butterflies & that silly little I’m-totally-smitten grin on my face 24/7. It’s Sophomore year & my trusty friend fate has us living in the only two dorms on campus that are connected, AND it turns out we had a class together that year! Now it’s Junior year & Jake asks me to be his date to his fraternity’s formal, of course I say yes & we have a grand old time. Later that year I decide to tell him that I like-like him & we fell madly in love! Just kidding, he actually shot me down & said he didn’t want a relationship, the year went on I stayed completely infatuated with him anyway. Looking back now he totally did like-like me too, he just didn’t want to admit it! Anywho, back to our story. It’s Senior year & good ol’ fate steps in again when the ceiling in Jake’s apartment decides to implode during a monsoon & render that space unlivable. Where is the ONLY apartment available? The one directly across the hall from mine! It was the best. Now it’s college graduation & it’s time to move out. We both leave Cortland behind and go back to our hometowns. For the last & final time fate steps in yet again in the form of my mother! Garth Brooks was performing in Albany, so I rode out there with my parents & spent time with Jake while they were at the concert & the rest is history! 🤍

I’ve always known that I wanted to do something special when asking Emily to marry me, however I did not initially plan on it being on a vacation with literally her entire family. As Ross would say, I needed to PIVOT! Whenever Em and I go on vacation, whether it’s with family or friends, we like to wake up early and walk down to the beach to catch the sunrise (sometimes it’s hard to get up early!) I decided to take that approach on the family trip to OBX. We managed to wake up on Friday morning and despite the cloud cover, caught a gorgeous sunrise. I naturally record everything, so she didn’t think anything of it when I had the GoPro in the sand. Dropping down to one knee and asking those four words was such an incredible moment. As Emily said yes, she too dropped to her knees crying and the tide rolled in, it was by far the best moment of my life. Coming back to the beach house and seeing her surprise everyone as they woke up was such an exciting experience. I felt so welcome into her family. I truly can’t wait to see the life we build together