Picture this - an old fellowship hall of a Baptist church. wooden walls. carpet flooring. GAP shirts fill the room. Light up sneakers are the only bright lights shining. broken crayons. coloring sheets litter the said carpet. Donna Guice telling us a bible story. That my friends is how Jacob and I first met. kind of. The best kind of meeting that three year olds can do. Jacob and I grew up together in a little Baptist church in the Point community. We spent our Wednesday nights and some Sundays in this very said sanctuary learning about men being swallowed by whales and bushes that don't burn up. We have pictures next to each other gloating over our newly colored David in the lions den sheet. We attended each other's birthday parties and always secretly had a crush on one another.

The season was summer, the night was late, the weather was hot and sticky. I was in a condo room at the beach with my beloved cousin and Jacob was innocently scrolling through a well loved social media also in a condo room (only 100 miles away from each other). Jacob's wondering mind led him to ask what beach I was at just to get the unfortunate answer of a different beach than him. Although it seems insignificant, this small messaging opened up much more. The time came for West Monroe High School to host their annual homecoming dance. Jacob was dateless and pondering who would boogie on down with him in the West Monroe High School gym. His thoughts brought him back to that summer night when he had talked to me for just a few minutes. He decided he wouldn't be satisfied unless I was on his arm that Homecoming night. Only one thing stood in his way, he didn't feel right if he didn't call my mother to solidify his plans. The mother-in-law-to-be nonetheless confirmed his hopes. He mustered the courage, wrote a sweet note on a softball, and picked out the finest flowers the local Brookshires had. He marched up to my house one night and out of the blue asked me to his Sophomore year Homecoming. I, of course, said yes and on November 1, 2014 with myself in a bright blue sparkly dress and Jacob in a black suit, the happy couple's first date came into being.

It was a cold night in early December. Our annual tradition of the winter is to browse the high class house Christmas lights and sip on Eskamoe's Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Jacob picked me up after my day at work and I was ready to sit back and relax with my beloved boyfriend and sparkly lights. Jacob was looking superb and clean shaven for the night. We traveled all over West Monroe and then all over Monroe. Jacob brought me to a place in downtown West Monroe that was a Christmas spectacular of a large walk-in Christmas light spot with different set ups all over the place. At the end of this walk-in masterpiece, there was an archway called "The North Pole" that we had to walk into. We stepped into this lightened world and Jacob asked me a simple question of what I wanted for Christmas. I answered with a multitude of things such as "a planner, shoes, and makeup". Finally, I asked him the same question of "what do you want for Christmas, Jacob?" and the answer was slightly more specific and direct. He got down on one knee and replied "All I want for Christmas is for you to marry me" and pulled out the most gorgeous piece of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on. My response was love and excitement as the new ring sparkled on my ring finger. We were both so excited, we rushed home without looking at anymore Christmas lights to celebrate with friends and family.