Sophomore year of college we knew who each other were, but didn't connect until our 5th years at UT Knoxville (go vols!). We took semesters off at different times for internships in chemical engineering and were fortunate to still have mutual friends by the time 5th year rolled around. Josiah asked me to his fraternity formal in the Fall, we went to a concert on the following Valentine's Day, and just a few weeks before graduation, we knew the other was too special to let go of. By the time of our wedding day, we'll have been together five years - five years involving an incredibly fun final year of college, long distance in grad school, serious illness, a physical therapy doctorate, the bulk of medical school, and several uHauls. We're looking forward to tackling whatever the future will bring, together.

Back story: Josiah would agree that he is not as big of a planner as I am. At the time of this story, he was in the middle of an especially intense month of medical school called "dedicated" when 2nd year med students focus solely on preparing for their first and the most important board exam. So when Josiah texted me saying he wanted to make a reservation at a nice restaurant to celebrate our anniversary (March 22) and my birthday (March 24) that upcoming Friday, my jaw dropped. I didn't want to get my hopes up for anything lifechanging, as we hadn't really discussed any sort of timeline, only that we both knew we were headed for the long term commitment of marriage sometime in the not-too-distant future. When Friday came around, Joe was unusually talkative while I was curling my hair, and making odd comments about having chills from his most recent immunization. Turns out, this was meant as a cover for him later bringing a jacket (with room for a ring box) into the restaurant. After a beautiful dinner and a rush to the next place before it mysteriously closed by 8pm (sunset), I knew something special was happening. After a walk through downtown Memphis, Joe slowed as we approached a fountain, dropped to one knee, and went straight to the point, a man of few words--"will you marry me". I was lost for words for a moment, and eventually was able to verbalize "yes". My sister and brother-in-law were in on it, and drove us back to my apartment where our wonderful friends were waiting with an exciting surprise party. When I later asked Josiah at what point he had decided for sure, he replied that he had been deciding every day for a long time. <3