Freshman year of high school, Joe told a friend that he would marry me. Senior year, he finally broke out of the friend zone, thanks to our senior musical, The Music Man. Our directors (shoutout to you, Schnell and Brackney) cast us as the leads. We had to kiss in the show and that's when I started to realize I liked him too. We went to prom together and the following Sunday, we went to Mass together. When he brought me home, I didn't want to leave so we stood outside together by my car. In the sweetest voice, he asked if he could kiss me. Instead of answering, I just kissed him.

The best part about this was that it was completely spontaneous. Joe just happened to have the ring. We were at Mount Rushmore over fall break. As we were leaving, Joe asked me if I wanted to go to Sylvan Lake, not far from where we were. I said, "of COURSE". We drove through gorgeous fall colors winding up to Custer State Park. The sun was beginning to set and everything was golden. As we were walking around the lake, Joe noticed a path leading up to a clearing overlooking the water. When we reached the clearing, he hung back as I walked forward to see the lake. When I turned back to him, he looked weirdly nervous. Joe doesn't get nervous. I walked back to hug him. He kissed my head and told me he loves me. I told him I love him too. He took a step back from me, reaching into his pocket, and said, "In fact, I love you so much that I want to ask...". As he knelt, he said, "Merry Rose Blomquist, will you be my wife?" I, apparently, am a walking cliche. I did the whole "spin away from him with my hands over my mouth" like in every movie ever and said, "oh my gosh, you're actually doing it". I started giggling and I couldn't stop. I did finally get the word out of my mouth. It was perfect.