I never would have guessed that waking up and asking my roommate and bridesmaid, Courtney, to go to the intramural fields to throw the softball with me would have led me to meeting my forever. As Courtney and I were throwing, we noticed a group of guys playing baseball across the field. They walked over to us when Austin, Jared's groomsmen, asked to play co-ed softball on their team next season. Austin did all the talking (of course) and told me to give my number to Jared as he was in charge of organizing the team. Jared and I were both in relationships at this time. Jared spoke maybe 5 words to me at that point as I gave my number and we went our separate ways. Fast forward 6 months... I received a text from Jared (finally) about starting a softball team. We made small talk to each other for the next few days without knowing both of us were now single. It didn't take long before we told each other we were both "available". He brought up he likes Harry Potter and I immediately got all giddy and expressed how obssessed with Harry Potter I am. Six days into talking everyday, he told me he was going to marry me one day. I went along with what seemed like a flirty joke, and told him our wedding date would be October 24, 2020. Turns out, it wasn't a joke at all. Our original wedding date was October 24, 2020. I never knew waking up on January 26, 2016 I was going to meet my bestfriend, life-long teammate, and soul mate but I am so grateful I did.

We had a family trip planned down to Mexico, and I knew right away I was going to propose. The only problem was getting the ring down there. Aleigha loves to go behind me and make sure I have everything packed, so I ended up giving the ring to her mom so Aleigha wouldn’t find it. I planned to propose the first day we were there but it took forever to get through customs and to the resort. The second day we told Aleigha we were taking family pictures at the beach and her mom “pretended” to take forever to get ready so Aleigha and I could head to the beach early. After walking down the beach and finding the perfect spot, I got on a knee and asked Aleigha to spend the rest of our lives together.