We met.

You know those stories of love at first sight?
Ours is not one of those.

Ryan and I met at a church BBQ the summer before our freshman year of high school.
And we had a lot of fun hanging out that night,
but we didn't exactly hit it off from there.

He was a fourteen year old guy
 (which means he was still pretty immature and a tad bit annoying).

I was a fourteen year old girl 
(which means I thought I was the epitome of maturity and I thought it was much cooler to date upperclassmen).
So, we stayed friends.

And it took me two full years to realize

that he might be more-than-a-friend material, 

because he was funny and sweet,
a great listener and an amazing friend.

And he liked me, even when I made this lovely face.

In fact, he must have thought I was pretty amazing, too,

because after two and a half years of dating,
he asked me to go for a walk with him.
And in the middle of the park, beside a pretty lake in the summer sunset,
he asked me to stop and take a picture with him.
This picture:

He then asked if I'd check to see if the picture was a good one,
and when I looked at the screen and saw the ring over my shoulder,
he dropped down on one knee and he asked me
to spend the rest of my life with him.
And I said yes.