If you ask us both, the "where" and "when" will be consistent—at the University of Central Florida in 2011—but the "how" might be a little different for him. The way I remember it: it was the first day of summer classes at UCF. Admittedly, I had a 20 oz beer at Wackadoos before class (if you know, you know). When I sat down, I scanned the room. See, my grade for this class was going to be based off of a group project. I knew that going in. So, I did some research before the summer semester started and took a peek through the class roster to try to pinpoint the "smart ones."

When I looked across the room, I saw him. He was wearing a purple Save the Tigers t-shirt. My first thought was, 'who the heck is that guy?' No, not in a 'Wow, he's so cute,' type of way. More like 'I didn't see him on the roster, so why is he here?' type of way. Okay, maybe it was also in a 'Wow, he's so cute' type of way... When class ended, I wanted to introduce myself but he ran out faster than a college student runs to free food.

The next day of class we were going to be forming teams for our group projects. So, while everyone was waiting outside of the classroom, I was mingling with other students, asking what their majors were and scoping out potential prospects. I thought I had a solid group around me and was excited to get things started. When the doors opened, everyone went in different directions. So much for the power group. I sat down and looked to my left and right and no one was by me. I turned and looked to the row behind me and there he was with one other guy. We asked each other if we still needed partners and the answer was 'yes.' After class, I invited the group to hang out at the Student Union to get to know each other and discuss our potential project plans. The rest of the guys had to leave, but he said OK.

We went to the Student Union and he bought me a smoothie. We sat down and talked for nearly two hours. I couldn't even tell you what we talked about, but I remember that I couldn't stop smiling. From then on out, we became really close. So much, that in our final project review, one of our group members called him my "close shadow." Two years later, we walked across the big stage together and graduated from college. Now, it was time for the real world.

When you're 20 and 21 years old, you're only beginning to find out who you are, or figure out what you like and don't like. You're developing and fine-tuning what's important to you as an adult. Over the last 12 years, we've grown up together; growing as individuals and growing as partners. We experienced a lot of big life moments together. We've gone through the amazing, the mundane, pain, suffering, forgiveness and love. We always push each other to be the best version that we can be, even if we don't know what that is. We challenge each other, pushing each other beyond our comfort levels. We support one another and lift each other up. We complement each other in all the best ways. He is my best friend and I am his. There was never a question of whether or not we'd be in each other's lives forever. We're just finally making it official.