Jolie seems to remember meeting Eric in the 7th grade, but Eric recalls 11th. Jolie would say that she knew of him in middle school and early high school, but never had any classes with him, or the same friend group. For the first half of high school, he was the classic sports jock and she was the typical band nerd (so naturally, she was invisible to him). It wasn't until the beginning of junior year, that Eric started attending Young Life club at the high school, that Jolie had always been involved in. It was here that they started getting to know each other and becoming friends, and funny enough, through this process, Eric dated two of Jolie's closest friends, haha! Towards December of that year, things got a little flirty between Jolie and Eric and they went on one date. (Jolie's first date ever) and I'm pretty sure they both secretly hated it! It was a classic terrible first date story that we'd be happy to tell in person. Nothing really came of that first date junior year, but Jolie went on secretly keeping her crush on Eric until SEPTEMBER of the next year, senior year. when school and club were back in, the embers got rekindled you could say. Eric eventually asked Jolie to the homecoming dance at a football game, holding up a HUGE sign and flowers! little did he know that while Jolie was over the moon about this, that was probably the worst way he could have asked her, in front of a ton of people, under a huge spotlight. after the homecoming dance in early October, it was clear that things were moving forward and we started officially dating. and here we are, 4 years later. its been a wild and beautiful ride.

so let me just preface this and say that Jolie did NOT know she was going to be proposed to that day, but very quickly figured it out because Eric is a terrible liar/secret keeper. They had been talking about getting engaged in 2017, and married in 2018 but that is about as far as she knew beforehand. the day started with Eric picking up Jolie at her house with flowers (not normal, so first sign that something was different today). They went to eat lunch at Bourbon Street Grille (best restaurant ever where Jolie works) and then they went to the reservoir and read Harry Potter cause they are both in love with it. after this, they walked around the square, and then drove on some scenic roads. then they went back to Eric's house, and walked down to the river. Jolie pretty much knew what was happening at this point, partly because Eric couldn't stop his nervous smiles. when they got to the river, Eric pulled out a journal that he and Jolie have been keeping the last 2 years, just writing back and forth to each other and he had Jolie read some entries he had made in the process of him getting ready to propose (talking to her parents, friends, getting the ring, etc.) when Jolie finished reading, he was proposing and honestly everything was a blur at this point. a little while later, we went to dinner and both of our families surprised us at the restaurant! afterwards, we went back to Eric's house where there were a bunch of cars and we had a little party/get together. the sweetest thing of all, was the video that Eric gave Jolie the next day, of a compilation of all of Jolie's family and closest friends sharing what they love about Jolie, favorite memories with her, and advice for the two of us. such a sweet day.