It all began in 2017 in Auburn, Alabama. I was enjoying a rare night of relaxation as nursing school took the majority of my time and energy during those days. I was a happy couch potato in my pajamas watching the Grinch and eating Cheez-It’s. My roommate and her boyfriend were leaving for a night out when there was a knock at our door. A boy walked in who I had never seen before. I of course assume he would be joining them in their plans for the night. However, to my immense surprise, my roommate and her boyfriend proceeded out the door as this stranger walked to the couch and settled himself down next to me. I was incredibly shocked by this turn of events. I have no clue who this boy is that just decided to stay here with me as his friends just left.

He makes polite small talk as I am internally annoyed that he is interrupting my coveted free time. But I, being the polite hostess that I am, offer him some of my Cheez-It’s. He stays until the end of the movie, and I begin contemplating how to politely kick this guy out of my apartment so I can go to sleep. In the end I go with the truth, “It was nice meeting you, but I have to go to bed now”. I get up and head to my room as he heads out the door. The next day I told my roommate how I cannot believe this kid stayed for the entire movie without even knowing who I am. He could have been a serial killer for all I know. She laughingly responds, “Oh that is just Jacob, he is a very nice guy. He is nothing to worry about”. And thus began our friendship. Having officially met Jacob in the most bizarre way, we had many more movie and game nights with my roommate and her boyfriend. I quickly found that Jacob is a very flirtatious guy, but I have also been known to have a flirty personality, so we established a ‘cute’ banter very quickly.

By the time I graduate from Auburn in 2018, Jacob and I had developed a solid friendship. I moved back to Birmingham and started working the night shift. During that time, I lost touch with most of my friends other than those I made at work. I struggled to maintain a social life with people that kept normal working hours. But to my luck, Jacob is a night owl. His 2am Snapchat check-ins got me through quite a few long shifts.

More years pass as we maintain a long-distance friendship. Jacob remained in Auburn working on flight school, and I left night shift and returned to normal working hours. Jacob was in a semi-serious relationship at this point, and I, along with rebuilding my social life, started online dating. This resulted in many interesting first date stories, boring guys, and very few second dates. I got into the habit of calling Jacob on the way home from every date to tell him how they went. This became routine, and eventually I realized I enjoyed my phone calls with Jacob more than the actual date. Plus, I think he was always secretly happy that I was never that genuinely interested in anyone.

Fast forward to December 2022, I was going to Auburn with friends to celebrate Jacob’s graduation from flight. It’s also worth noting that both of us are single pringles at this point. I got to meet his family and be part of their festivities. That weekend was significant for me, because this was the first time I considered the possibility of Jacob being more than just a friend. It was common knowledge among our friend group that Jacob had always had a small crush on me. My goal was to always maintain firm boundaries in our friendship to prevent ever giving Jacob the idea that I could have feelings for him. To this day I can’t pinpoint what exactly changed for me during his graduation. Was it because I saw how family oriented, he is? Was it because he was all of a sudden this grown man no longer looking like the young funny kid our of friend group? Was it because we spent the night talking about the things we love most about Jacob, and I realized he is one of the most caring and wonderful guys I’ve known? Unsure. 😊

Three weeks later we go on a cruise to the Caribbean with ten of our friends. We had an absolute blast! We swam with the fishies in Grand Turk and had an incredible bonding experience over a manta ray encounter (and I am talking a legitimate manta ray- the massive ones you see deep in the ocean). We also talked for hours at the top of a beautiful lighthouse in Nassau. These moments made me realize that Jacob is truly my best friend and I love spending my time with him. We celebrated New Years during the cruise. Since we had booked the cruise six months prior, Jacob had always joked that I would be his New Years kiss. I always laughed it off because I didn’t think he would have the guts to actually kiss me. Cut to News Years on the boat, and he was so nervous I could tell. Until of one our friends walked up and kissed him. I think he got annoyed his opportunity had passed him by, so he just grabbed my face and kissed me anyways. I thought it was sweet, but we were both exhausted so we both called it a night and walked back to the room together. Then Jacob pulls a smooth little move by saying he got robbed and thinks it’s appropriate to have another kiss since I wasn’t his first kiss of the new year. This one was special.

When it came time to disembark, Jacob and I got separated getting off the boat. I thought I wasn’t going to get the opportunity to tell him goodbye because we were going back to different cities. I reacted to that thought more than I ever would have anticipated, feeling sad realizing I didn’t want to leave him and even more upset that I may not be able to hug him goodbye. But it all worked out-he met us at the car right before we left. Then I was left to process the fact that I had developed feelings for my best friend for the 12-hour car ride back home. I gave myself a few days to see if it was just the fun of being together and experiencing new things and my more-than-friends feelings would wear off. They didn’t. In fact, they only got stronger. So, I decided to share this with Jacob. I get him on the phone and say “hey, I’ve developed feelings for you. Don’t be alarmed if I act weird or distance myself more than normal as I try to work through it.” My concern was ruining our friendship or him not being in a space to reciprocate. However, he quickly reciprocated, and we navigated the transition from friendship to relationship within a month. We had a wonderful first date I will remember forever, and the rest is history.

Jacob proposed to me in my most favorite place in the world, Navarre Beach, FL, and I cannot wait to marry him. I say this all the time now, but, if at all possible, fall in love with your best friend. It truly is the best. I’m excited for our life together and all the adventures to come. Thank you to everyone that has supported us on this journey! We are both so blessed with wonderful families and friends. Jacob and I are looking forward to celebrating our marriage with you! 01/04/2025 here were come!!