We were in the same class in college learning how to fix band instruments at Southeast Technical in Red Wing, but didn't actually start talking to each other until the middle of second semester. James sat in the bench behind me and decided that I looked pretty lonely, and just began saying hello to me every morning. Soon after that, I couldn't help responding to his sarcastic remarks about his projects with little quips of my own. Our jokes then became conversations, and our conversations soon became hanging out after school. I felt like our connection was instant and natural, and we teased each other like we had been best friends for years, not the few short weeks we had actually known each other. I mean, what shows friendship more than holding up a baritone with its head taken off and pointing at the other saying "You're next!"?

James was very quickly becoming my first friend I made that year, and by very quickly, I mean we were hanging out and chatting in the cafeteria after school after a week of knowing each other kind of quickly. Both of us are extremely introverted and usually take months of acquaintance to start considering a close friendship with other people, so already there was something special between us that made us feel comfortable just hanging out together. We were in class joking around as usual, and one of us made a joke about chicken nuggets. I won't go into too many of the details around the joke (you'll have to ask James for that) but I said "We so have to go to McDonalds for lunch and order chicken nuggets and laugh about it." And, a few short hours later when lunch time came around, James asked me, "Do you still want to go to McDonals and order chicken nuggets?" I grinned. "Sure." In the back of my mind I was thinking 'is this like a date or something? Are we going on a mini date? Pfff nah, it's just lunch' Then, with our chicken nuggets ordered, we settled down for what was actually a really enjoyable lunch. We chatted about a lot of things. What sort of music do you like to play? Your favorite hobbies? etc etc, but the moment didn't happen until I asked him about his favorite genre of books. "I like young adult fantasy. Like Rangers Apprentice and Leven Thumps." I smacked the table, mouth open. "Me too!" Man, never would I have imagined that my prince charming would be sitting there chomping down on a bag of fries with me, quoting favorite lines and discussing characters, and why movie adaptions are always worse like some undercover fallen angel. This. This was the moment when I knew we were going to be very, VERY good friends. And it was totally a first date. At McDonalds.

Honestly, I had been anticipating the proposal for quite a while, so it wasn't a huge surprise. But I think that's a good thing. If the girl is completely surprised by a proposal because marriage had never been discussed before in the relationship, then are they really ready to tie the knot? We had talked about it for months beforehand. I mean, I really couldn't have made it any easier for James. I gave him a link to the engagement ring saying "I want this in silver and I'm a size 6." As well as giving him some not so subtle ideas on where I wanted the proposal to happen. I suppose he could have had a chance at making it a surprise if not for a few crucial events. As I had said before, we'd talked about the proposal months before it happened, and James said he would like to pop the question sometime in the summer or fall. There was hint #1. The summer went by like a virus through a crowd of people (pun intended) and so far no wiff of the big question. I knew it had to be coming soon. August was now rounding the corner, as well as my birthday. James had specifically instructed me to not look at any packages, or even our bank account for that matter, so as not to ruin the surprise he had in store. He was also talking to a lot of family members about my gift as well, often shooing me out of the room so they could gossip. Very suspicious. This was hint #2. It wasn't until his older brother called, which wasn't abnormal. James put him on speaker phone so we could both hear, and his brother says, "So Mamaw says you have really big news!" Yup. Hint #3. He was going to propose on my birthday. It was around noon in early August, one of those hot and muggy days that's better spent in the shade... or better yet, inside. But still, we had planned to go out for a nice walk together at the local park to have a birthday picnic. I was dying to ask questions that morning, but I thought it better to let James have his moment. We ordered sushi, my favorite, and went to find a nice spot by the wildflowers. I knew the proposal was coming soon, and about halfway through our sushi he says, "I know I didn't get you much for your birthday, but instead I thought we could invest in our future." He then brought out the ring, and of course I tackled him to the ground, and the ring was exactly what I wanted. Even if I wasn't surprised, I was too excited to finish my sushi.