This is probably one of my favorite stories to tell... Where do I start?

Stephen and I met as participants in Mortar Board, a national honor society for college students, at Northern Michigan University.  It was one semester before graduation for both of us, and it happened when I least expected it.  Actually, one of my friends from the same group called it months ahead of time, saying "you guys would be a great couple!"  I didn't say anythiing after that, but I did begin to wonder if maybe I could have a chance at some kind of love-life before graduating college.  That's right, Stephen was my first relationship, and now, my one and only forever.

It was my turn to bring in a snack for our Mortar Board meeting, I didn't have much time to prepare something, so I snuck over to Super One in search of an easy treat!  Every holiday season, Super One gets a pre-made recipe of chocolate peppermint cookies; I had made them before so why not?  They're so good!  I whipped them up quick at home and was on my way to the meeting.  When I got there, a certain someone was "eyeing up my cookeis" (but we all know what he was actually eyeing up).  After the meeting Stephen had a few more cookies and agreed to take some home, where he proceeded to flirt and thank me for the "wifeycookies."  I had butterflies the whole way home, and later that night ended up asking him out.  He played it off like he was too busy, but the day after we began talking and it went from there.  It took a lot of trust once we started dating, but it only grew, trust to respect, respect to love.  Could it be that easy?  I don't have an answer for that, but I thank God every day for not letting me burn those cookies!

It was probably one of the more stressful times in my life. I was balancing the demands of my academic career, community service projects, extra curricular activities, and was waiting on my acceptance into optometry school. To say the least, the highlight of my week was attending the monthly Mortar Board meeting because the club decided to have members bring in Christmas treats. On the day of the "Wifey Cookie Incident", as Emily likes to call it, I was running behind schedule and missed out on lunch. My stomach ached because it knew dinner was several hours away. To say the least, I was starving, and well, in short, Emily had brought some cookies in to share with the group. I only took one at first to be polite. Halfway into the meeting the tray of cookies was still there, and, given the current situation, of near death from starvation, I began to shove the peppermint frosted cookies into my mouth. I was on cookie number three, or ten, who really cares, and this is when I believe Emily first noticed me. I could tell she was impressed with my cookie eating skills. When the meeting concluded we walked outside. I asked how she came about the cookies and she told them she made them at home. My interpretation was that she had made them from scratch, but she didn’t admit they were out of a box until after she had the ring on her finger. We flirted back and forth. Towards the end of our exchange, as we were getting into our separate vehicles, I teased her and made sure to thank her for her "Wifey Cookies". I’m pretty sure that’s how our entire relationship came into existence, over box cookies. A few days later we started seeing each other. Within a few weeks she asked me to meet her folks. It wasn't soon after that when she asked me to her aunt's wedding. From there something more blossomed between us and eventually I kneeled down onto one knee and asked her to marry me. But that's another story. Most important of all, after a hard day, I know I have something sweet to come home to.