Payton moved in across the street from me just before junior year of high school. I didn't pay much attention at first. My sister would play basketball with him outside and would wake me up from my post-school 2-hour nap to tell me Payton was asking me to come outside. I never did. We exchanged a few conversations but one year passed without much interaction until 7th period on the first day of the second semester of senior year. Our seats were alphabetically arranged- Giles being just 3 seats in front of Hoehn. Payton thought it would be a great idea to tell our teacher (who also happened to be my soccer coach) that he had "bad vision" and needed to move up to the empty seat in front of mine (smooth move by Payton). Flirting is much easier when you can lean on your victim’s desk! In the beginning of February, Payton teased that he was going to purchase a "Valenchime" for me. Our chorus at school would go room to room and sing to specific people on Valentine's Day. Thank god I was safe from that, since the chorus only performed valenchimes during lunch periods and our class was at the end of the day. On Valentine's Day, as I walked into class, I was delighted to find that Payton was not in class that day, so I was safe from any embarassment. Or so I thought. It turned out that Payton and my soccer coach had come up with a scheme to hide Payton in the utility closet. Five minutes into class, Payton burst out of the closet and proceeded to perform "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie in front of the entire class- his own homemade valenchime. A month and a half later, on March 31st, 2018, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend in the Publix parking lot on his 15 minute break and we had our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend at Jake's Wayback Burgers. After 5 amazing years, Payton put together a surprise proposal in Oregon. I had been wanting to see the real "Halloweentown," so we took a weekend trip to see the sights. Payton made reservations at a beautiful vineyard on October 7th, 2023, where he popped the question. (Ask him about the funny/stressful details of that story!) We’ve grown up together: graduated high school together, lived two hours away from each other during college, graduated college together, made tons of new friends together, got our first real adult jobs, and made the best memories together. Since becoming engaged, we’ve also bought our first home together! We are so excited to spend the rest of our lives making lasting memories like these!