Friday, December 7, 2012

5 Years Later

Today is a special anniversary in our home. Five years ago on December 7th, Joe got down on one knee and proposed. We don’t actually celebrate this anniversary, but I didn’t want the day to pass by without acknowledging it. After all, if that proposal had never happened, we wouldn’t have the life we do today! So in honor of this day, I’m sharing one of my favorite stories; the story of how Joe and I met, fell in love, and got engaged. *Cue sappy music*

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Joe and I met the first week of college. At our school, first year students were required to take a class called "first year symposium" (or FYS) that is meant to help improve your reading/writing skills and get you acquainted with college life. Joe and I were in that class together.

There is a “legend” that you will meet your future spouse in FYS. I don’t know how often that has actually happened, but it did for us. According to Joe, he was thinking about that legend on the first day of class and scoping out his classmates, trying to decide which he would hypothetically marry. Now I can’t verify if this is true, but Joe swears that when I came in the room he decided I was the one.

I noticed Joe on our second meeting a few days later. I was sitting in my first biology lab when Joe sat down at my table. He, along with two others, ended up being part of my lab group for the semester. I remember thinking he looked familiar, but I didn’t realize he was in my FYS class until a few days later.

Anyways, we bonded over microscopes, a goofy lab partner, and an unusual professor. We became friends really quickly, which is strange for me because I’m a relatively quiet person and it usually takes time for me to become friends with someone, especially a guy. We started spending more and more time together, and it quickly blossomed into a relationship.

 

The first picture of Joe and I at 18.

Early in our relationship, our FYS class had to do a project that involved being assigned to small groups and putting on mini plays for the rest of the class. Our class met one evening for our performances. When we were all finished, our professor broke out refreshments, including gingerbread cookies (it was almost Christmas). Afterward, Joe walked me back to my car (I had to drive to the other part of campus). We chatted for a bit and then Joe leaned in for a kiss-- our first kiss. I told him that he tasted like gingerbread, and he laughed. From then on, every time we ate gingerbread, we reminisced about that night.

Fast forward 3 years. On December 7th, 2007, Joe came to my apartment to hang out. He brought a gingerbread house for us to set up and a big white box tied with a red ribbon. I asked what was in the box, but he refused to tell me, saying it was a surprise for later. We worked hard on our gingerbread house for an hour or so (it still turned out a mess, we’re not very artistic).

When we finished, Joe told me I could open my surprise. When I did, I instantly saw that it was gingerbread people that looked like us (our hair color, eye color, etc). I smiled, noticing how cute the curly hair was on the "me" gingerbread girl. Then I stepped back to take in the whole picture and instantly noticed what I had stupidly missed. The "Joe" gingerbread boy was on one knee and in his hands was a ring... a real ring! Once I caught on, Joe picked the ring up, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.

My answer was "OF COURSE!!"

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