It was August 2017, I had just wrapped up a wonderful Florida summer and was eager to start my junior year strong. Henry Thomas, a friend and classmate, texted me and told me he was headed to Target with some "cool freshmen guys." I was immediately intrigued so I asked them to pick me up some orange juice and swing by my place after to drop it off and make introductions. When the guys arrived I began to aggressively chug the juice and make bossy introductions. Jonathon was among the cohort. He had on basketball shorts, old vans, and was carrying his longboard. I was wearing my favorite XL Alabama sweatshirt and offered him a chair that he declined. I couldn't figure him out. He was polite but quiet, and most annoyingly clearly had no interest in hanging around. Neither of us thought much of our first meeting, but over the next few weeks, we kept running into each other in between classes, school functions, and friend gatherings. It became evident that he had a way of making me laugh and I felt more comfortable with him than I had with anyone else. A genuine friendship began to form. Acquaintanceship turned to friendship. Friendship turned to the best friendship. Best friendship turned to like. Like turned to love and the rest is history. -Victoria

“You cannot bring a woman who is expecting an engagement ring to Paris.” -Seth Meyers But I did. Only because three months before the trip Victoria emphatically assured me that she did not want me to propose in Paris. “It’d be too cheesy.” “We aren’t like that.” Etc. So I decided not to propose in Paris. But… When packing my bag before we left, I slipped the ring in at the last minute. It would have been terrible if the opportune moment were to arise and I was ringless. So I decided to take it just in case. Sure enough, as we were walking down the Seine, I spotted a willow tree right by the water. Its long branchlets provided a small and secluded area in the middle of Paris. It was perfect. We were also walking toward one of the largest collections of Monet paintings in the world—which I considered a sign given his affinity for this tree. Double perfect. I made a note of where this spot was so we could come back to it after the museum. Two hours later, after I desperately tried to connect to wifi to text our families that I was proposing later that day, we made it back to the tree. And the rest is history. -Jonathon