The start of our best lives yet

Bumping into each other on a night out didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.. A young woman walks up to a young man, thinking he was handsome, he thought he could impress her with a few cheeky pick ups lines.. It worked. We decided to exchange numbers to continue the light flirtation. We were both at places in our lives where we didn't feel like it was the right time for serious relationships... So we were both nonchalant about the encounter. Fast forward a few short weeks and the perfect love story started to unfold... We will always remember, accidentally falling in love.

I have been enamored with Jake since we met. My liking (obsession) with him has only grown with the time we have spent together. He has qualities that I have always looked for, yet never found. Jake is so incredibly loving. I never thought a man could love as hard as I do... But I found him!!! Jake is driven and incredibly intelligent and yet he is a goofy nerd, just like me. We can play around and be weird together. His humor and enjoyment of making me cackle will always keep us young! I knew about 3-4 months into dating Jake that I was in for the biggest adventure of my life. This incredibly interesting and sweet man was taking me down the deep slopes of LOVE. I cried when I told him I loved him for the first time. I was scared it was a mistake. How could I have let this happen so quickly?! But falling in love with Jake has been nothing short of a fairy tale. He is my knight in shining armor. We chose to be each other's partner in this crazy, fantastic life. And I would not have it any other way.

I knew that I wanted to marry Lauren shortly after I had met her. I had never met someone that was so passionate, understanding and loving and I knew that I had to find a way to keep her around forever. The first big step was when we moved in together in a shared two bedroom third story apartment. It was cramped and we had a roommate and two dogs so there wasn't a lot of space for privacy. We got a crash course on what it would be like living together which was actually pretty great. I swear to this day she would intentionally convince me to go shopping with her just so I would be there to help carry all the stuff back up three flights of stairs but of course she'll never admit it. After spending the third wonderful Christmas with Lauren and her family I started to ask myself, 'What am I waiting for? Like seriously why haven't I asked this girl to marry me yet? She's great!" I'm not exactly sure what spurred this thought or why it came to me when it did but it was definitely the right move at the right time. The next day I began setting plans in motion. After a family dinner at their favorite local pasta place I sat with Lauren's dad having a drink like we had done many times before. Little did he know I was working up the courage to ask him for his daughter's hand in marriage! I was relieved to hear his answer was "Absolutely!" and he gave me a big hug as we began talking about what the plan was. After the word had gotten out to the rest of the family I was afraid it would be impossible to keep it a secret from Lauren, but we somehow managed to do it! I remember calling Lauren’s sister, Taylor, and hearing the ecstatic cries of joy about the news as she immediately began thinking of the best ways to help coordinate the proposal to make it an amazing experience for Lauren. After a few months of planning and secretive coordination we invited all our friends and family to the Lost Oak Winery for the surprise engagement.... and the rest is history.