Anyone who knows me is aware of how terrible my memory is. However, one memory will forever be engrained in my brain; the first time I laid eyes on Josh. An 18 year old boy, rocking a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, shorts that were way too tight and a skateboard in his hand. Josh was pledging Delta Chi, a fraternity I would soon become the sweetheart of. It certainly wasn't love at first sight. In fact, the first words Josh ever uttered to me were, "you look like a stuck up _____." I'll let your imagination fill in the blank. Being a year older than him and knowing I held more leverage, I made it my mission to teach him a lesson on manners with a little help from his frat brothers. Luckily for him, he apologized.

Flash forward a few months later, my mom came to visit and we invited some of my friends to lunch. Low and behold, Josh showed up. To say my mom fell in love with Josh that day would be a gross understatement. After their interaction, my mom would not stop talking about him and asking me why I wasn't dating him already. At the time, it was a hard pass because of my bruised ego.

Being part of the same group of friends, we ended up spending loads of time together. Before we knew it, we were best friends. After having a little too much fun on a night out, a group of us went back to Josh's house before ending the night. I'll spare you the graphic details, but I ended up getting sick all over his bathroom. Completely mortified, he scooped me up, put me in his bed and took care of me all night. That was when our love story officially began - so romantic, I know. From that night on, we were completely inseparable. A month into dating, he told me he was in love with me. Quite the turn of events after our initial interaction.

Little did I know, that 18 year old punk would be my husband one day. We have built such a beautiful life together over these last six years. God answered all of my prayers, exceeded all expectations and blessed me in ways I never dreamt were possible. I could not ask for a more loving, selfless, hardworking partner who prioritizes me above all else. I am the luckiest girl in the world to soon call this man my husband.

To my best friend, soulmate and the best puppy daddy to Norman and Winston, I can't wait to continue our love story and grow our little family.

To the boy you were, the man I know, and all the versions of you I have yet to know - I will love you until the very end.

My version begins at 18, a pledge in our fraternity’s most notorious house for hazing at arguably one of the best party schools in the country, Arizona State. That house also happened to be where the studs of the older group lived, and that was where you wanted to be if you were hoping to meet the beautiful women guys come to this school to meet.

I walk in the front door and there sits Taylor, a stunning petite blonde with a perfect figure and beautiful blue eyes. Perfect. Just what I would be looking for, right? Well truthfully no. I wasn’t interested in Taylor… not because I wasn’t attracted to her, because she was off limits. Taylor was dating the pretty boy of the fraternity, who lived in that house! Taylor will tell you I was mean to her when I first met her. And it’s true, I was. I was so upset someone like her was off limits to me.

After a couple weeks of hanging over at that house and seeing Taylor more and more, I decided it’d be best to be her friend and maybe hit on some of her friends while I kept my distance from her. Or at least that was my mindset at the time.

This is where our friendship began. The next year we continued getting closer and closer, as she continued her relationship and I continued my nonsense.

Fast forward to October of my sophomore year, Taylor’s now single but we are not really talking as much. It’s date night and my fraternity is taking party buses to a night club in Scottsdale. I’m doing my typical routine, highly intoxicated, ditched my date and on the prawl. Then, Taylor pulls me for a chat. Having not seen each other recently but knowing she’s single, we start catching up and I’m trying to put some moves on her. I can’t remember much of what happened after that but I did not get anywhere with her and after a couple choice words to a peddle bike cop, I found myself sitting on a cold, disgusting floor in solitary confinement at Scottsdale city jail… and at that moment with everything going on, all I could think about was - damn Taylor was feeling me tonight ;)

Next party we had was Halloween at Marrons house. Again she was giving me vibes! I found out very quickly Taylor was not my typical hook up and if I wanted to be with her I was going to need to work for it. It was then, Halloween night 2017 I would go for only Taylor. Ultimately, that ended up being be the last time I ever set eyes on another woman.

We continued our fling through November and left for winder break the beginning of December. Taylor headed home to Chicago, I headed to London, then Cali. Taylor took the leap of faith and flew across the country to meet me back in Cali after Christmas and stay at my mums house through new years. New Year’s Eve, on the sand, in front of the Montage in Laguna Beach, I asked Taylor to be my girlfriend. 4 years, 364 days later I got down on one knee, both of our Bears in hand and proposed to the love of my life.

We have built a foundation that will last a lifetime. What started with impelling attraction, a true friendship, turned into a storybook young love, is now an undeniable commitment to the love that we share and the future we both are building.

Taylor I went all in on you in Tempe Arizona, I’m all in today, and I will be all in on you till I take my last breath. You are the light that brightens my day, the most loving mom to our boys, the one who makes our house a home, the rock that keeps me grounded in faith, my college sweetheart heart, my reason for working, my inspiration, my EVERYTHING. You work so incredibly hard and are so extremely smart, I am so lucky that you love me and so lucky to call you mine.

I can’t wait to build a legacy together that will live on long after we’re gone. To my future wife, don’t ever worry about me because I will always be here, loving you to the very end.