I was sitting in the community lounge with my friends, and I overheard Caela's friend group talking. I thought someone said they were 17, which I was at the time, so I went over and asked who said it. It turns out they never told anyone was 17, so I just looked stupid, and she thought it was cute. As time went on, we had more small conversations. Eventually, her friend came up to me and said Caela thought I was cute and asked if she could get my Snapchat.

I saw Jacob for the first time in our dorm freshman year about a month into school. I thought he was cute, and we would randomly have minimal conversations here or there. My crush started to form about two months into the fall semester and it even got to the point where I couldn't be in the same area or have a conversation with him because my face would get red. I would get so nervous that my friends would try and find ways to end the conversation because my face was so red and I could barely say anything (which as most of us know is a surprise because I can have a conversation with a wall and LOVE to talk)

Twas the night of my 18th birthday, and after about a month of little conversations on Snapchat, I finally mustered up the courage to ask Caela out on a dinner date to the dining hall. Which was a mistake because they were serving wings (one of the messiest foods there is). When we got there, it was a little weird at first because I had no idea what to do, but as the night went on, I got more comfortable. At the end of the night, the dining hall had to kick us out because they were closing, so we said goodbye to each other and said we should do this again.

After about a month of us exchanging Snapchat and me trying to catch his attention, he randomly texted me on his 18th birthday, asking if I had dinner plans. He wanted to see if I would grab dinner with him at the worst dining hall on campus. He told me that all of his friends were out of town and he had no one to eat with( but after our date, I saw him leave our dorm with a big group of his friends, which proved that he lied to me to get me to have dinner with him). I instantly accepted the invitation and I remember getting all of the girls that could fit into my dorm room to try and figure out the perfect outfit to wear. Jacob and I then proceeded to have dinner for 3 hours until they kicked us out, I think that is important to note that halfway through dinner, he looked at me and said: I don't mean to offend you but I don't know what your name is because I don't know how to pronounce it. We then proceeded to eat dinner together every single night for the rest of that week. The rest is history.

After about a week of hanging out, we were hanging out in one of the dorm conference rooms until about 6 a.m. After that, ya know.

I knew that Jacob was the one when he met my family for the first time. He was extremely nervous, but the way that he interacted with my family, it seemed as if he had always been a member. He also never had any issues getting Bailey to like him, and if you know Bailey, he is a dog that likes very few people. But he made it clear that Jacob was someone we could trust and keep around!

I was planning on proposing when the moment felt right. The trip to Gatlinburg was not originally planned, but I thought it would be the perfect place to propose. Originally, after we planned the trip, I was going to propose in the evening on a mountaintop attraction that had rope bridge walkways and string lights at sunset. But they closed early, so we wouldn't be able to have the sunset or the lights on. Also, it was 40 dollars a person to go up on the mountain. We decided to save the money and do something else because there wasn't much to do on the mountaintop. That's when I suggested we go and see the sunrise at a newfound gap where you get to see the sunrise over the top of mountains and valleys. We get up in the morning, and I get dressed in khaki shorts and a white polo. Caela walks out of the bathroom in pajamas and asks why I was dressing so nicely. I said to take nice pictures, so dress somewhat nicely. We get there, and it is kind of cold, so Caela grabs the blanket from the car, and we sit for a little while to watch the sunrise. Then we started taking pictures, and I took a video of myself proposing. I was super nervous, and Caela was giggly (she doesn't remember what I said or what happened). As we were driving back to our hotel, she was in so much shock that she fell asleep for the ride back. After we got back to the hotel, she called her mom and her best friend, Abbey. Once she was done, we went to get pancakes and walked around the aquarium.

I knew that Jacob was planning on proposing after I graduated. We decided to plan a very last-minute trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for August 2022. I made a lot of jokes about how it would be the perfect place to get engaged. A week and a half before our trip, a certain person that shall not be named (Mike McLaughlin, aka the father of the bride) made a joke about getting engaged on our trip and how Gracie would miss it. Jacob then sat me down and explained that as much as he wanted to propose on our trip, the ring would not be there on time. I cried for probably 3 hours and accepted that it would not be happening. Once we got there, we had originally planned the first night to go to Anakanesta, which I decided at the last minute that I didn’t want to do. So we drove around and planned out our week. The following morning, we planned to wake up at 5 a.m., drive to a lookout point, and watch the sunrise. I woke up and put some layers on over my pajamas and was ready to go, but then I walked out of the bathroom to find Jacob in a polo and khakis, and that's when I knew that this was not going to be a casual sunrise. He then proceeded to pick out a dress for me to wear, and we set off. The whole drive there, Jacob was quiet, and it was very obvious that he was extremely nervous. We started watching the sunrise (it was freezing, so I was wrapped in a blanket or wearing a sweatshirt over my dress, aka not the outfit I always imagined I would get engaged in). Then Jacob set up his phone to take pictures of us, and after a few poses, he got on one knee and asked the big question. To be honest, I don't remember a thing. I blacked out from the moment he got down on one knee until we got back to the hotel. We went back to the hotel full of excitement! We then got some of the best pancakes I have ever had and went to the aquarium!

My favorite thing about Caela is that she loves to plan. She will, for any occasion, plan something. The plan will always be in detail, and there will be a schedule that doesn't get followed, but there is one. Even when the night doesn't go as planned, she still finds a way to make it great and enjoyable.

My favorite thing about Jacob is his sense of wonder and appreciation for the smallest things. I am the type of person that gets extremely involved and overwhelmed by things, and sometimes I forget to take a step back and appreciate all of the small things that lead to where we are. Jacob is the type of person who sees and appreciates all of those little things and forces me to also stop and slow down to see those things. He appreciates everything and sees that everything has a purpose, even the small things that some may not even see.

Refer to our first date section. Her version.

My favorite story about Jacob will forever be when we went to get Miss. Gracie or, in his mind, go look at Miss. Gracie. We were at the drive-in to see Top Gun with my dad, and I saw a dog that was posted on Facebook from a dog shelter that was up in Toledo. I showed him her picture, and he gave in and said that we could go look at her, but there would not be a dog coming home with us. The following morning, we go to the dog shelter and are expecting this big ol' pitbull to come around the corner, but instead, we get a mini pit with the ego of a St. Bernard. We looked at each other and knew that we were bringing that dog home. To this day, I still remind him that Gracie was the dog that he didn’t want to bring home.

I look forward to always being there for each other when we need it. Also, to start a family and see how we raise our little people. But the thing I am most excited about is growing old together and looking back on all the experiences we will have together.

I look forward to everything that will happen to me and Jacob in the future, but the top two things that I can’t narrow down between are all the traveling that we plan on doing or the family that we will eventually start! I am thinking that our family will involve lots of fluffy cows and dogs until it’s time for mini Caelas and Jacobs!