We met through a mutual friend on July 17 in 2011. We technically met the year before that & just didn’t remember each other, but the next year, sparks flew instantly. She threw us together & said, “You both like Zelda, so talk!” Jared immediately asked me what my favorite Zelda game was & I responded with Ocarina of Time & from there on out it was love at first sight (because that’s his favorite, too)! He tried to sit beside me in the movie theater & failed, but we were invited to the same friend’s house the next day. Sometime shortly after that, we made plans via a Facebook argument to have a lightsaber duel at the Train Bridge & I swore I’d beat Jared. I did not. That was our first date. On July 27th, he asked me to be his girlfriend. Obviously I said yes because I was head over heels for this boy. It might or might not have had to do with the fact that he had a Mustang at the time too, which I thought was slick. ~Carly I can trace meeting her back to my parents divorcing when I was 6 years old. My mom dated a guy from Russellville & after 6th grade we moved and changed schools. I left all my old friends behind & made a bunch of new ones that I still have today. In college I reconnected with a couple of people I knew at my elementary school, & that got me connected with another group of people. Long story short is a mutual friend went to school with her at Alabama. When I finally saw her again in July 2011, I just thought she was a hot nerd & thought I had a shot. So I was gonna friend request her & start talking to her, but she beat me to it. That was a good confidence boost. At the time I obviously had no intention of marrying her. I just wanted to take her out on a date. Woo boy was I wrong. I realized I loved her the day she told me about standing in an elevator she thought was broken because she hadn't pushed the button. I don't know why that was the point, but it was. ~Jared

We were going to take a trip to Gatlinburg for our anniversary & I didn’t think he’d propose because it was too obvious. My mom took me to have my nails done & told me it was because she always got to have hers done before she went on vacation. We went to a Hatfield & McCoy dinner show on the first night we were there & I kept thinking if he was going to propose, he’d do it then. He did not. After that we decided to go to a place called MagiQuest. They had a hall of endless mirrors so we live streamed it on Facebook & everybody thought he was going to propose and he didn’t. By this point it was after 9 & he hadn’t proposed so I knew it wasn’t happening. We got back to the hotel & he asked if I wanted my present. I started opening it & he filmed me. I saw Link on one knee proposing to Zelda. I started crying & before I knew it, Jared was also down on one knee and he said, “It’s dangerous to go alone, so take this!” Obviously I said yes! ~Carly The in-between happened & now we're on the other side. I thought about proposing to her daily for months, if not years, thinking about how I would do it & how I'd make it some super intense memorable thing. Instead I wore cargo shorts with a nice shirt & Vans & kinda botched the whole thing, but the Zelda painting was a nice touch. I would have done it sooner but I didn't feel like I could take good care of her as I was financially or otherwise. Then I got my new job & that was all I needed. At that point I couldn't do it fast enough, but we put a lot of stock into our anniversary, so that seemed like the best time to do it. It didn't hurt that she deliberately thought I wouldn't do it because it was too obvious - thanks, you really made the surprise a lot easier to pull off. I just know I want to give her the best life she deserves because she deserves it. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that's possible, because I sincerely love her, to the moon and back & there again. Also she’s smokin' hot. ~Jared