Freshman year of school, I was sitting on my bed when a group of kids walked into the room with my roommate Billy (groomsman). At the time, she was the cute little blonde that sat in Billy's chair. She'd later get herself a name... Ashley.

Sophomore year of school, Billy and I were moving back into our dorm. He hopped out of the room to say hi to the girl next door. Her name was Jenn (maid of honor). She'd be living in the adjacent room with who else but... Ashley. From the beginning, I saw Ashley as the girl I could never get. She was beautiful and smart and I was the nerd next door that played with his tech deck and YoYo (I tend to do odd things that no one else is good at). Throughout Sophomore year, the 4 of us would hang out a lot. Going to different parties, eating together in the dining common on weekends and before classes. All in all, we were super busy and we slowly became good friends.

The summer between Sophomore and Junior year, Ashley and I were both at UMass doing research. She was living in Caitlin's apartment (bridesmaid) in Amherst and I was commuting to campus 5 days a week from home. On occasion, I impressed Ashley with my fabulous hot dogs and boxed macaroni. We would hang out, having absurd conversations at her place. We became great friends and about once a week, I would sleep on the couch to avoid the drive back to my parents house.

Junior year began and Billy and I were once again moving back into our dorm. You wouldn't believe it, but guess who was next door again... Ashley!

Ashley knew how hard it was for me to wake up in the morning. So, on her way to the shower in the morning, she would come in and wake me up so that I'd be ready to go down to breakfast with our friends. This was when my best friend started to become my crush. Still, I saw Ashley as the girl I could never get, only now, I was hoping that I hadn't been put in the friend zone. For her 21st birthday, I took her out to ABC, bought her first legal beer, and whooped her butt in pool (we still enjoy going out and playing pool over a couple beers). Throughout Junior year, we became closer.

Now the year was coming to an end and it was time to pack up and head home. My room was cleared out and the car was packed but I was missing one thing. I headed back up stairs and just hung around for the next couple hours while Ashley packed up. It was then that I realized how dumb I had been for not asking her out yet.

We saw each other every weekend for the first three weeks of that summer and officially started dating June 1, 2012. Still today, it is rare to find us as a solo act; we love doing everything together. In October of 2012, Ashley and I decided that I'd accept a job in Pennsylvania and that she would move down to search for a pharmacy school near me. I'm working as a software engineer at Lutron Electronics and Ashley is finishing her last year of at Thomas Jefferson College of Pharmacy. We have the best 2 year old puppy ever named Jason (follow him on Instagram @jason_bestdogever).

By the time of the wedding, we'll have been engaged for 2 years, living in PA for 4, dating for 6, and friends for 8. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her and tell the story of how we met time and time again.

I love you Ashley Melissa!