Going into my sophomore year I decided my school year goal was going to be to prioritize friendships- I told myself I wouldn’t get into a relationship and was honestly just looking forward to a fun year with my friends! But sure enough, I met Jake in his backyard a few days before school even began. I had recently heard Jake’s name, but had no idea who he or his roommates were. The ONLY reason I met Jake was because I was following through with my goal and said yes to my Lake Travis Chi O friends’ offer to go to “their high school guy friends’ house,” despite the fact I didn't know any of them. That night after briefly talking to Jake, I mentioned to my friend Hannah that I thought Jake was cute. From that point on, Hannah made it her mission to get him to ask me to victory dinner, a party his fraternity throws the first week of school. Jake and I went to victory dinner together and don't get me wrong, it was a fun night, but overall I wasn’t interested in dating him and he felt the same way about me. Fast forward to October, I’m at a music festival in Austin and randomly get a phone call from Jake asking if I wanted to meet up. I was confused as to why he was calling but met up anyways & had so much fun that I ended up staying until the last concert with him! The next week he asked me on a date and I said yes. The date was going SO well until he completely blind-sided me and asked me to be his girlfriend…All I could think was “WHAT! NO, NOT IN MY PLAN & IT'S OUR FIRST DATE!” But I was in so much shock, I panicked and said yes. After he dropped me off I told my roommate I was very shaken that he asked me to be his girlfriend on our first date but that it was going to work out because I just KNEW I was going to marry him... Two months after our first date Jake told me he loved me and by my junior year I had a wedding Pinterest board, ha. It's safe to say I can't WAIT to marry Jake Thomas Gordon, no words could ever describe how much I love my sweet man. -Catherine

Catherine and I had discussed getting engaged before we graduated from Texas A&M so she knew it was probably going to happen sometime during the Spring semester of our senior year, but I still wanted the actual proposal to be as big of a surprise as possible. Because she can be pretty intuitive, I had to go over the top in making it seem like I had done nothing to prepare to propose, much to her frustration. But in reality, with significant help from some of her friends and family, I planned a proposal and surprise engagement party following the proposal to celebrate. For the actual proposal, I had a bunch of our friends and family secretly fly/drive down to College Station and sneak out to the Stella Hotel to be there to watch. Catherine was under the impression she was going to the Stella Hotel to get dinner with her friends and one of her friend’s dad who was staying at the hotel for Chi O’s Dads Day. Meanwhile, I was standing outside the hotel next to a pretty pond and decorations around me waiting to propose to my best friend. When they walked her out to me, the look of surprise and joy on her face is one of the best things I've ever seen. Getting down on one knee and hearing her say Yes will always be one of the greatest and most special moments of my life, likely only to be beat by getting to hear her say I Do. -Jake