Because we grew up in a small town and went to the same high school, we knew *of* each other, but never officially *knew* each other. I had several girl friends that knew John and had crushes on him, but I definitely thought he was out of my league. ;) On May 31, 2013, our school was having a program that we were both a part of, so we were sitting near each other with several of our mutual friends. The topic of conversation moved to going country dancing (the thing to do in our hometown) and I was expressing how I would never go without knowing how to dance first. John, having grown up dancing, asked me to come sit by him to talk more and then proceeded to volunteer to give me dance lessons so we could go dancing together. (SMOOTH!) He asked for my number, I of course gave it to him, and we've been inseparable ever since!

The end of one chapter and the start of a new one: The day started with John graduating college. Jessamy had graduated just two days earlier. The plan for the weekend was for both the Daniels and Tomlinson families to celebrate our graduations in downtown Austin (so they thought). We did celebrate our graduations but behind the scenes another plot line was taking place. John had coordinated both families to meet up and have a great time on the beautiful 7th floor veranda at the Fairmont, overlooking Downtown Austin. Jessamy showed up, not knowing that John had planned a romantic escape to the owner’s suite once everyone arrived, to pop the question. When the Tomlinsons and their extended family arrived, John sent the "it's go time" text to the Fairmont staff. After both families started mingling and celebrating amongst themselves, John grabbed Jessamy's hand and told her "I have to show you this amazing view." Once we arrived to the 35th floor, Dave, the hotel's manager, nailed his lines just like we rehearsed and led us to "the best view the hotel had to offer." Once the door opened, Jessamy saw a rose petal walkway lit with tea lights leading to the view overlooking Downtown Austin where John would soon ask her to be his forever. We've never walked so slowly and quietly with such big grins on our faces. Once we got to the end of the rose petal pathway, John bent down, and stood up before saying anything. Jessamy laughed thinking it was all an elaborate joke, but the truth was John's pants were just too tight to pull the ring out of his back pocket. After standing up and kneeling a second time, Jessamy knew it was really happening... After the romantic escape came to a close, we went back down to the 7th floor to make a toast and the announcement of Jessamy and John's engagement.