For those who may have lost count, we have been together for over 10 years now! Tyler and I (hi hello, this is Emma writing) met back in high school in 2011, specifically through marching band and more specifically through unofficial vocabulary tutoring. Sometimes there was extra time at the beginning or the end of band class to study, and we would use this time to sit together and memorize spelling and definitions. I genuinely really needed help, but it was also a good excuse to talk to a cute boy. :) Shout out to Tyler for helping me pass some of those tests.

 

       From this point on, we began to get to know each other more through all things high school. Homecoming as a first date, sitting together on the band bus, and chatting late at night on the phone. Our chemistry felt easy and it felt natural. Tyler made things “official” by asking me to be his girlfriend Halloween night, just a few days after our first date, and stopped by my house with flowers. (Which also completely took my mom off guard, sorry mom.) And then a few short weeks later, he surprised me with our first kiss. (Stay with me, I promise this isn’t gross.) Tyler patiently waited to make a move until we went on our marching band trip to Hawaii and because of this, our first kiss was on Waikiki Beach, at night, with the waves crashing and the lights from the city glowing. How romantic was that?! Round of applause please for Tyler. I’ll remember that moment forever.

 

       Ten years is a long time to recap in a few short paragraphs, but I recognize how lucky I am to have spent so many incredible moments already with the love of my life. We’ve graduated both high school and college together, traveled internationally, lived in another state, moved into our first apartment together, celebrated our first full-time jobs, and adopted our rescue pup, Peanut. The number of holidays and birthdays that we’ve celebrated is way into the double digits and we’ve been there for each other even when life hasn’t gone as planned.

 

Tyler, I can’t wait to spend even more incredible life moments with you and most importantly, I can’t wait to marry you.