Shorty after Amy started working at Aguilar we invited her to come with us on a weekend trip to Disneyland. She declined. Thankfully, she accepted invitations to other hang outs and happy hours. During the Red for Ed strike we started spending a lot more time together. That summer I confessed to Mandy that I thought I had a crush on her. We finally did make it to Disneyland together and we wore Jessie and Buzz Lightyear ears and rode almost all the rides together (because of my strategic line order). She even held my hand as we fell asleep on the sectional. More time passed and during our fall break trip to a cabin in Flagstaff with some friends we shared a bed and I "accidentally" cuddled with her all night. When we got back from the trip we started to have more sleepovers on the weekends and I shared that I had a crush on her. She didn't believe me but took a few weeks to think about it. She finally said she liked me back and we started dating the day before my birthday.

Jess and I had been talking about getting married for awhile. I told her I would like to surprise her with a proposal, but she would have to pick out the ring. I planned to propose at our home which made it slightly challenging. I ordered lights and decorations and had them delivered to a friends house. Once the ring was ready, I snuck away to get it and planned to propose the next day because I can’t keep a secret from Jess for very long. I enlisted a couple friends to go out to dinner with us to get us away from the house while others set up what I envisioned for the backyard. When we returned from dinner, Jess was shocked to see the transformed backyard and my proposal written on the wall. She said yes immediately and we celebrated with the wonderful friends that helped me set up my proposal.