On my cousin Roxane’s 21st birthday, we took her out to Pat O’Brien’s. There was lots of singing and the drinking of hurricanes. Poor Pete was stuck with buzzed versions me, my sister, and Roxy. And as I was singing along to some song, Jason called. It was around 11:30 at night, which to me says it was an emergency call. I ran outside to answer it, and we had the following conversation:

Jason (yelling over background noise): LINDSAY!

Me: Jason! What’s wrong?! Is everything ok?

Jason: I LOVE KATY!

(side note–Jason had started dating Katy not too long before this, I believe)

Me: You’re in love! Jason, that’s great!

Jason: I’M GOING TO MARRY HER!

Me: Wait–you’re going to marry her?? Isn’t this a little soon?

Jason: SHE’S THE ONE! I LOVE HER AND I’M GOING TO MARRY HER!

This statement wasn’t one to take lightly. Jason hadn’t dated many people since we met, and to call just to tell me that he would marry her made me pretty sure he would. Sure enough, they got married this weekend. 🙂

The bonus to the wedding is that Jason and I are friends from UCF’s Tennis Club. This means that Jason had one of my favorite groups of groomsman ever. I was actually a little jealous and wished I could have been a groomswoman ;).  I’ve known most of them since their freshman year and my sophomore year, and we’ve traveled all over together. The wedding this weekend made me remember how lucky I am to have had the college experience that I did. The shy, quiet girl who came to Orlando to go to UCF and was so afraid to go to the tennis courts alone the first time that she took her roommates with her the first time ended up finding herself on UCF’s tennis courts.  You forget that your friends in college are the ones you really grow up with, and I’m so grateful to be able to go to Jason and Katy’s wedding, see some of my favorite people, and laugh just as hard as we did in college.

In the end, these types of friends are the ones who keep you grounded. They remind you of who you were, once, and let you know that no matter what life throws at you, you’re still that same person. Except that you’ve lost enough of your shyness by now that you’re able to dance with them ridiculously at one of your closest friend’s weddings.