My first memory of meeting Nick dates back to 2008, when we were in the second grade, where our initial encounter left a lasting impression. As the years passed, Nick was a constant presence, always around. We grew up just a couple of streets apart, spending countless moments running around the neighborhood with each other and our friends.

As time passed, we grew older, and innocent crushes were inevitably formed. This, for me, marks the true beginning of our story. In seventh grade, I had the biggest crush on Nick. All those neighborhood meetings and youth group outings built up, but when I finally gathered the courage to tell him, Nick audaciously told me that "we were better off being friends." At that point, I was okay with being just friends, so I did what every other 13-year-old would do—I got over it.

The funny thing is, as soon as I did, Nick started liking me. Around this time, one of the worst things that could happen to an upcoming eighth-grade girl occurred—I broke my leg badly, and I had a cast all the way up to my hip, making myself bedridden in the fall of 2013. While my classmates were out enjoying their eighth-grade year, I was at home. I'll pause in the story to say, this is when everything changed for me.

With my bright pink and very large cast, my friends and I made our way to the event every Memphis middle schooler looked forward to—the Jr High St. Agnes dances. To be blunt, I was having the worst time ever. To avoid being cliché, I was literally the girl in the movie, sitting in the corner on the bleachers, not dancing or talking to anyone, holding my crutches. What was the worst day of my life then, is now one of the best. Nick, being who he is, walked over to me and asked, "Why are you not dancing?" At this point, I was just offended because he could clearly see why I was not dancing. Before I had the chance to answer, Nick grabbed my crutches and demanded I stand up, which I did. Then, he proceeded to do the chicken dance, shouting, "See, you can dance with one leg." We danced the rest of the night together.

After this, we slowly started to talk more, and thankfully, Nick finally asked me to the movies, where he asked me to be his girlfriend. I chose to start with these stories because the foundation of Nick and my relationship is friendship, which is why falling in love with each other came quickly. Mind you, we were both only 13 years old at this point. By the time we graduated eighth grade, I knew. I knew God had made Nick for me, and I was made for him. From our first "I love you' s" to our first homecoming dances to our first proms, Nick has always been by my side. We have grown together in a way that isn't common for most. I am so very blessed to be loved by Nick, even though nobody believed us that we were the real deal. By the time we hit our one-year anniversary, we had already talked about our wedding and our future countless times. My love for Nick has changed and grown as we have changed and grown. Even now, 10 years later, I still get butterflies every time he calls me. He is the first person I want to be with when I have a bad day or call when I am overwhelmed. Marrying Nick has been a dream of mine for the past 10 years of my life, and I knew the entire time he was the one. But by the time college came around, we knew we were going to be faced with larger challenges than we had ever imagined before. But one thing I think that makes Nick and me "us" is that we believe that as long as we are together, we can get through anything. Which we did. From graduating college to moving in together, to starting our careers. We are still growing, molding, and learning about each other. I have loved Nick for 10 years, and I will love him for the rest of my life. I could not be more excited to marry him and to have you all there with us on our day. It's been a long time coming, and we wouldn't be here without our friends, our families, and all the memories.

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