We first met in 2001 when we were in first grade. We went to elementary and middle school together and were always friends. When we were in seventh grade, Jacob asked me to be his girlfriend. We were each others first 'real' boyfriend/girlfriend. Our first 'date' together was at the movie theater at Crocker Park to see the very first Twilight movie. My mom had dropped us off at the theater and took our sisters to 'shop'. Little did we know at the time, my mom also bought tickets for her, Sara and Abby. They tried sneaking in and sitting behind us. We quickly realized it was them, but the 'disguise' they used was turning Abby's shiny silver jacket inside out so both the silver and hot pink were showing. We caught on pretty quickly and called them out on it. We broke up and went our separate ways in middle school and into high school. We still stayed in touch and were close because our moms were best friends. We saw each other almost daily. Jacob became my 'constant'. No matter what I had been through, he was always the one that was there for me. My mom had been diagnosed with cancer and I spent most of my time with him. A year later she passed and I went through some very difficult and dark times in my life, but he was always there. High school came and went, and so did college. I fully believe that we were not ready for each other and that's why fate hadn't brought us back together. One day, Jacob told me how he felt about me, at the time I was in a relationship, but he told me he would wait for me. Five years later, he was still there waiting for me. While we jumped into a relationship quickly, we needed to make up for lost time together. We had always known we were each others person. When I told Jacob I loved him, his response is one I will never forget. He said he never stopped loving me. We get the unique opportunity to be each others first and last love's. We are so ready to celebrate that love with you!

Jacob and I (along with his family), had planned a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for his birthday weekend in June of 2021. I had been hoping that maybe we would get engaged on the trip, but was very back and forth about whether or not it would happen. His mom, Nicole, had requested we take family photos on the beach during this trip. She had found a photographer and hired her and we had all bought (semi-) matching outfits for the shoot. Originally, I hadn't known which day we were going to be taking photos. Nicole told me later that we would be taking them on Jacob's birthday. At that point I had ruled out any possibility of a proposal happening. I figured it would be the last thing he would think about on his birthday. When we got to the 38th St. Beach, we noticed it was about to rain. We spoke briefly with the photographers and they stated they wanted to move quickly due to the storm. Nicole told the girl that she wanted photos of each of the couples and also the entire family. The photographer grabbed Jake and I and put us into a pose. She stated that she wanted me to look down the beach and that Jacob was going to come up behind me and pick me up turning me back towards the camera. She didn't want us to count so that it would be a more candid look. As I braced for impact, I thought I had heard her yell "never mind just turn around". I asked Jacob if she had just told me to turn around and he confirmed it. I turned around to him being down on one knee. The first words that came out of his mouth were "okay, now don't cry", which of course made me bawl my eyes out. Then he followed it up with the true question, "will you marry me?". Jacob had planned the whole proposal and hired the photographer. He told me later that he wanted it to be first thing because he wanted me to truly be a part of the family for photos. After family photos we had an engagement session with the photographer as well! Tell me a fiancé isn't the best birthday gift ever?!