Told By Ashley: James and I met our freshman year of college at Marywood University through mutual friends. I walked into a dorm room on the first floor of Loughran Hall where he "practically" lived. We hit it off instantly and could not get enough of each other. We spent all of our time together and spent countless nights up until 2AM texting or calling one another. We had built a strong friendship that quickly turned into a relationship after he made it official in the Rita's parking lot (he knew ice cream was the way to my heart) after a few dates and the rest was history.

Told By James: There came a time in May of 2020 when I found out that Ashley was going home to visit her parents for a few days. I was working from home at the time and knew that this might be the best opportunity to go look at rings. Once Ashley left, I immediately called my mom to let her know my plan and I met her at the jewelry store on my lunch. I had about ten different pictures of rings that she had sent me saved in my photo album so I had a pretty good idea of the ring she would like. I showed the jeweler a few pictures and he immediately knew what I was looking for. Two weeks later I had a voicemail that just said "it's ready." When I picked it up, I knew I couldn't wait any longer to ask her. For Ashley's birthday, we weren't able to go anywhere or see any friends due to COVID-19, so it was the perfect excuse to have a party. I told Ashley I had a surprise for her and that I invited all of her closest friends to celebrate with us. I waited for all of our friends to get there and tried to keep myself busy by cooking and playing games, but I still can't express the nerves I was feeling that day. A few hours into the party, I waited for everyone to be outside so I can make a toast (something I do everytime we are with friends so this was nothing different). A couple minutes into my toast, I asked Ashley to join me on the porch. I told her how much I loved her and how much she has changed my life. Then I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me and she said yes! It was the most nervous and excited I ever felt. All of our friends cheered and congratulated us and we immediately facetimed all of our family members. The rest of the night we got to not only celebrate her birthday, but also being engaged!