Okay so it wasn't actually band camp, but it was during our symphonic band rehearsal class! We met in the spring semester of 2017. I was the section leader and teaching assistant. He was the hot new percussionist. I honest to goodness Could. Not. Stand. Him. There was a piece we were rehearsing that he would mess up on and I - being the stuck up band geek I was - would WHIP my head around and the look on my face could not have been anything more than "SERIOUSLY DUDE?!". Fast-forward to March of 2017. Every year, the week before Spring Break, our ensemble would travel around Duval and the surrounding counties to high schools to do some recruiting for the program. It's an entire week on a charter bus hanging out with some of the best people you could know! I was sitting with my friends - and now bridesmaids - Jenn and Veronica on the bus. Danny was sitting with some of his friends, talking, laughing, being loud as usual. My friend Jenn kept telling me how funny and sweet he was and that he was single. I had just gotten out of a relationship, so I had absolutely no interest in how funny or sweet he was. I was focusing on school and school alone. It's now the end of the week. There's been some laughing, there's been some flirting. It's Thursday, March 9th. As we are all getting ready to leave that afternoon, our group convenes in the parking lot to decide which house/dorm/apartment we will be hanging out at. We all end up agreeing on my apartment. Danny comes up and mentions that he's going to Top Golf with a friend but he'll come by afterwards. He was going out with friends for his birthday! We are all at my apartment waiting for him, and when he finally comes over we watch Moana for the first time. There was some cuddling on the couch and some whispers from our friends who watched us flirt more than they watched the movie. We have been inseparable since then. And we don't plan on changing that any time soon.

It was insane. He had my mom and my sister keep me busy all morning! Which as nosey and bossy as I am, I’m still unsure of how they pulled it off! I stayed the night at my parents’ house with my sister, and that morning my mom, my sister, and I got up and got dressed for the day. Mom had gotten us a manicure appointment together and said that we should all dress up for a girls day! We get over to the nail salon and after getting the mani’s we popped over to Flagler Beach for lunch! I asked mom if we could stop and dip our toes down in the water, and she made me drive all down and around Flagler Beach. We took back roads and stopped to look at a few of the huge beach houses along the way. She finally says - “okay pull up here and we’ll go walk the beach for a bit”. We get out - I’ve already taken off my shoes, I was ready to hit the beach! We finally cross A1A and step onto the boardwalk. I see Danny with all of our friends and family surrounding him while he’s on bended knee, just beaming up at me. I walk - no, run - down the steps to him and I am already a tearry-eyed mess. He and I just look at each other until he finally says “well, can you read?”. I had totally missed that he had my best friends holding up huge signs that say “will you marry me?”! Of course I said yes!