Every great love story starts with persistence... and Brady had plenty of it. For months, he tried to get my attention while I perfected the art of not replying- all while my little sister and several other friends were working behind the scenes trying to convince me to give him a chance. Eventually, I gave in- partly because of them, partly out of curiosity, and partly just to see if he'd ever give up. Spoiler: he didn't. ;) Our first time actually meeting wasn't even planned. We ended up at the lake with separate groups of friends at the same time, which led to surfing behind his boat and one of those chaotic, memorable lake days you can't really make up. A couple weeks later, Snapchat finally did its job, and we started talking more. That's when Brady made his first big impression: bringing me a shake while I was sick. Sweet right? It would've been perfect if I hadn't very clearly said "anything but chocolate"... and he showed up with a large chocolate shake. Bold move. We kept crossing paths- next at my little sister's scrimmage, which somehow turned into me helping him paint his derby car that same night. As the derby got closer, I decided he was at least interesting enough to hang out with, so I went with him to an after-party. That night we stayed up talking until we fell asleep... and somehow, he didn't even try to kiss me. Just a hug. By morning, I figured if he could wait that long, he might actually be worth a real date. 4 days later, we went out on our first real date, the day before my mom's birthday, and just 8 days after that, we made it official. Turns out the guy with questionable milkshake choices, selective listening skills, and an impressive amount of patience was exactly the one I'd been waiting for.