Cameron and I met the first day of classes freshman year. We had both moved into the dorms-- him in Smith Hall and me in Martin Hall-- about a week before, but were lucky to run into one another right away! It was an accidental meeting, if you believe in such things. I prefer to think that God had every second of that day planned out beforehand.

It all started with one of my dorm friends, Lindsey, having a birthday. She lived across the hall and my roommate and I had met her on move-in day. We were all getting to know one another and in the spirit of friendliness, Missi (my roommate) and I decided to surprise Lindsey in lieu of her birthday. We waited until we knew Lindsey was in class and ran to walmart for our supplies. In high school, I had always window painted my friend's cars, either for their birthdays, for sectionals, or good old fashioned pranks. Thus, I thought I would carry on the tradition with Lindsey's car. The idea seemed pretty simple and after buying what we needed (hot pink puff paint for her windows), we set out to find her car in the freshman parking lot.

My roommate and I had never seen Lindsey's car, so we had to call her and inquire without making her suspicious. Since freshman parking was limited, we asked Lindsey where she had parked so that we could claim a spot near hers. She didn't really seem to suspect anything and told us that she drove a red Monte Carlo and that she was the last car in the row beside the tennis courts. Easy enough. Soon, Missi and I were elbow deep in window paint, marking up every clear surface that we possibly could with phrases like, "Birthday Princess", "Honk, I'm 19", and "Kiss the Birthday Girl". As I was making some finishing touches to the rear window, I noticed a guy walking towards us donning an old ball cap, carrying a baseball bat, and wearing a huge smile. At first I thought he would just walk on by toward the baseball field, but I kept looking up and he kept on coming my way. Eventually he broke the awkward glances by asking me what exactly it was that I was doing. I have always been a bit shy, especially around guys and couldn't seem to form any words to answer him. My roommate, who is my exact complement personality-wise, smiled and gave him an explanation with ease. I probably looked like a total nerd, just standing there staring at the ground with nothing to say, and to this day I don't know why he kept searching to make eye contact with me or why he kept flashing that smile my way... but back to the story.

It didn't take long for us to figure out that the reason he was so curious about our activities was because we had chosen the wrong car. The Monte Carlo we were writing on did, in fact, belong to this tremendously handsome guy.. not our birthday girl. At first we didn't believe him, but he wasted no time taking out his keys and sounding the car alarm. The proof was enough to embarrass all three of us. After apologizing a million and one apologies, I looked over and saw that his car, which was on the end of the row as Lindsey had told us, was sitting right next to a very old model Monte Carlo. The old Monte turned out to be Lindsey's car. Apparently after she had parked her car, he had pulled up right next to her which had, in turn, made her the second to last car in the row, no longer the last.

After laughing the whole thing off, the handsome guy in the baseball cap introduced himself; Cameron Cunningham. I mustered up a few words of polite greeting and managed a hand shake. He told us that he would love to stay and talk but that he had to run into the dorms to change and then come back out to pick up a friend and that he would be needing his car back. We apologized, again, and let him go on his way. While he was gone and his car was still in front of us, we used the last of the paint we had to write our phone numbers on the remaining window space. I can't remember whose idea this was, but I can tell you it was completely out of character for me and I definitely didn't expect him to call.

That night, I got a text from an unknown number, which turned out to be Cameron. He wanted to know where I was and what dorm I lived in. I told him but didn't hear back from him right away. Instead, about an hour later, I heard someone yelling my name through the window. My roommate and I lived on the third floor of Martin Hall, and there was no air conditioning, so our windows were always open. I hadn't met hardly anyone that would know my name, not to mention my dorm and was very curious if whomever it was was calling for a different Lacey. I waited but kept hearing my name, so after a minute or two I walked to the window and looked out to see Cameron standing three stories below, with a group of guys. Evidently, he had gone looking for me after texting me and had run into my roommate, who told him what room I lived in.

After that night, we spent every waking second together.. and the rest is history! I don't know how we could have met under stranger circumstances but I can say that from day one, our relationship has been hard to explain. We are alike in too many ways to count and different enough in some aspects to complement one another perfectly. I have never met someone who knows what I'm thinking before I say it or someone who could take the shyness straight out of my personality like Cameron can. I don't know about him, but I can say without a doubt, that it was love at first sight.

Here are a few interesting little facts about us as a couple..

We both drove the same red Monte Carlo freshman year before I totaled mine in a car accident. Cam bought his in high school and mine was a gift from my dad when I turned sixteen. Our cars were so much alike, in fact, that I had to look at the license plate when they were in the same parking lot to determine which was mine.

The summer before college, Cameron and I had been attendants at the same Rascal Flatts concert at the State Fairgrounds and after we started dating, I found out that we stood in the exact same spot for the concert but never met. Timing, I guess.

I am a planner to the point that it could be considered obsessive and Cameron is very spontaneous. This is where the complementing comes in!

 We both root for the same teams—Cubs for baseball, Purdue for college basketball, and the Colts for football. My love for Purdue didn’t start until our relationship, but we shared a mutual love for the Cubs and the Colts before dating.

We have the exact same taste in music. In fact, on one of our first trips together in the car, I noticed that he had a Dave Matthews Band collection that identically matched my own.

If you ask us where our first date was, you will get a different answer depending on whom you ask. He thinks our first date was at IHOP at 3am the night after we met, probably because his criteria for a date includes driving me somewhere and feeding me. I, however, think that a proper date occurs during normal daytime hours at a restaurant that doesn’t serve pancakes. Thus, if you ask me, our first date was at Real Hacienda in Anderson a week after we met.

Our first kiss was a spontaneous move made by Cameron a week after we had met, the same night as our first date (the REAL date to Hacienda). We were sitting on the steps of Smith Hall talking long after open house hours had ended and it came out of nowhere but was welcomed gladly.

We actually sat down and chose our “song” together. I don’t think this is normal, but nevertheless, we wanted a song and didn’t know how it was supposed to be done any other way. We decided on “One Boy, One Girl,” by Colin Raye. It will most definitely be played at the wedding.

I met Cameron’s family a couple months after we started dating. He promptly announced the day before that I would be accompanying him to Kokomo to wish his sister well before her Prom. Talk about pressure! It went very well and I have felt at home with the Cunninghams ever since.

Cameron met my family at different times. My mom met him on campus when she was visiting me. She actually picked him out of the crowd before I told her which guy he was. Apparently, I have great taste. My dad invited us to dinner a few weeks later to Eddie Merlot’s in Indianapolis. The combination of meeting my dad for the first time coupled with the stress of what to order at a nice restaurant was almost too much for Cam, but he survived! The rest of my family met Cameron in the hospital after my unfortunate accident in November. His attentiveness to me during that time really won over my family and they have adored him ever since.

Our four year anniversary was coming up and everyone I talked to was convinced that this was the day Cameron would ask me to marry him. I, however, was very skeptical. I figured that since I had some schooling left to finish and because it was our four year anniversary, a very obvious day to propose, that Cameron would wait for a different occasion.

I asked Cam what he wanted to do for our anniversary and he decided he wanted to come to my house in New Palestine and that I would cook us dinner. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I agreed and started planning what we would have. When the day came, I had already went out and bought all of the supplies for dinner, all of his favorites, and was ready to cook for him.

It was terrible timing, but I started to feel sick early in the day so I just got comfortable, in my sweats and a t-shirt (not exactly anniversary attire) before making dinner. At around 5pm, an hour before I was going to start cooking, Cam told me that he had a change of plans-- I was to get dressed and go with him somewhere... and I only had ten minutes.

I was in a panic! I looked and felt terrible. Where on earth were we going? He drove me to Fortville and if you are from Hancock County, you know that Fortville only has a gas station and a subway. For the life of me, I could not figure out what we were doing on this side of town. Eventually, he pulled into this lot off of a country road that led to a barn. I was still unsure of what we were doing, but he promised me it would be fun. We walked up to the barn where a group of people in uniforms were waiting for us, and I looked up to notice a banner hanging in the barn that read: Stars and Heights. It took me a few seconds, but I quickly realized that we were getting ready to do something that I had always dreamed of doing... something that I had told Cameron I wanted to do three years prior; we were going on a hot air balloon ride!

The crew let us help assemble the balloon and hook it to the basket that would carry Cameron, the pilot, and I. It took almost an hour to get everything right but once the wind changed directions, we jumped into the basket, snapped a quick photo, and we were in the air! I am not afraid of heights, but I will admit that the ride was pretty scary at first. It felt as if we were floating, but the basket only came up to Cam's waist and we were so close to one another that all three of us were touching as we stood in the basket. We flew over Fortville and through some of the areas that I grew up around as a kid, and about twenty minutes into our ride, before the wind took us to Geist Reservoir, Cameron got down on one knee and proposed! He had a speech prepared in his mind but I cannot reemember a word he said. I was crying so hard I couldn't focus! I said yes, of course, and helped him slide the gorgeous engagement ring on my finger. The rest of the ride, I just kept looking at it and then back at Cam.. it was almost too much to handle all at once! You would have thought it would be weird to stand there next to a complete stranger during such an intimate moment, but we didn't care. We kept kissing and hugging.. probably annoying that poor pilot to death! And needless to say, my stomach ache from earlier in the day was completely gone.

After our hour in the air was done, we flew over Geist Reservoir and headed for a landing spot in Fishers. The pilot was determined to get us close to a neighborhood, because he said that they were the best landing spots for engagements. We didn't really understand why, but once he lowered us into the neighborhood, we got it. There were too many people to count-- parents and loads of children-- running to greet us as we landed. They were the first people to congratulate us on our engagement and the moment was perfect.

After all of the excitement was over, we got back in Cam's car and headed for a surprise dinner at Ruth's Cris. I wasn't going to have to cook after all! I wanted to call everyone in my phone book, but managed to get ahold of my parents, Cam's parents, both sets of grandparents, and our siblings. Once we got to the restaurant, we went inside and headed for our table. They had us seated in this special room and once we got close, I saw Cameron's dad, Greg! Apparently Cam had invited our parents to have an engagement dinner with us. I was so happy to get to celebrate with our family.. it was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Our ceremony and reception will be held at 5:00pm on July 21, 2012 at the Kelley Agricultural Historical Museum, just five minutes south of Kokomo on US 31. We chose this venue for its rustic charm and we hope that everyone will love it as much as we do!

Jessie Wolf- Maid of Honor and Best Friend.

Courtney Cunningham- Bridesmaid, Friend, and Sister in Law.

Sarah Fisk- Bridesmaid, Friend, and Sister in Law.

Cara Seely- Bridesmaid, Childhood Friend.

Mallory Willits- Bridesmaid, Childhood Friend.

Missi Martin- Bridesmaid, College Friend.

Ryan Perry- Best Man and Childhood Friend.

Barry Denton- Groomsman and Childhood Friend.

Wesley Fisk- Groomsman, Friend, and Brother in Law.

Josh Conley- Groomsman and College Friend.

Kyle Dillon- Groomsman and College Friend.

Brian Korte- Groomsman and College Friend. 

Mac Salmon- Usher and Childhood Friend.

David Paul- Usher and Childhood Friend.

Landon Seely- Ringbearer.

Darcy Davis- Flower Girl.

We are booking a beautiful Honeymoon to the island of Aruba. We will be departing the day after our wedding and won't return until the following Sunday! We have chosen the romantic Bucuti & Tara Resort on Eagle Beach.

Cam and I are registered at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, and at Honeymoonwishes.com/LaceyandCameron (this website.. just click on 'Our Registry' at the top of the page for Honeymoon related gifts). Can't wait to see you on July 21st!