It was late at night and we spent hours talking on the phone. Kira suggested getting ice cream, and before we knew it we were planning our first date together. Brandon convinced her to try a new Mexican ice cream place, which ended up not tasting good but didn't spoil the mood, and we laughed it off planning our next stop. We made our way to downtown saint paul where at first we chased each other on electric scooters. Eventually riding next to each other talking until the time ran out. Moving the adventure forward we explored Target together laughing and talking until the night came to an end.

We were asked to help move some furniture around using Brandon's mom's car. Starved from a full day of activities and forgetting to eat we decided to go to Mac-a-Donalds (inside joke). As we sat talking and feeding each other chicken strips Kira suggested having a few drinks later that night. More specifically she wanted Brandon to have a few drinks. He said okay, but asked why she made the suggestion. After a few minutes of avoiding the question, she reluctantly said: "I want to tell you something, and drinking brings out real emotions". Talking back and forth Brandon said he'd say all his feelings without the alcohol, and with his heart beating through his chest the words "I love you" flowed out. In instant tears, we started kissing and saying we love each other back and forth. The first "I love you" was in Brandon's mom's car eating Mac-a-Donalds.

On January 2nd, we awoke with love in the air, and passion rushing through our veins. Unable to contain our excitement we blurted out "Let's get married!". Many laughs and kisses later, we loved the idea. Going about our day we made breakfast together and went to work talking about our marriage non-stop. The next day we went shopping for ring ideas, and after visiting a few stores Brandon decided a style that perfectly fit Jakira. Knowing we had everything to make the engagement official besides asking the magic words we couldn't help making it all real as soon as possible. WIth Shadow (Barbara's cat) in hand Brandon got on one knee in the living room and proposed. We hugged and kissed with tears running down our faces ready for many special decades to come.