Wedding Date on Aug 3, 2018

ake's Side of the Story: Well, it all started September 24th, 1996! Ouch!!! Okay fine, I'll fast forward a little... I met Brooke at Heritage Baptist Church in the Crux Sunday School class January 31, 2016. Our first interactions revolved around a lip-sync battle where we were judges. We soon became pretty good friends within our Crux family. Over the next 11 months or so, we built a solid friendship with a lot of laughter and getting to know each other. December 24, 2016 (the weather night.) Okay side story, this was the night that I had planned on asking Brooke out. I had messaged her during the night saying that I wanted to talk to her. When she asked me what I wanted to talk to her about, I panicked and said the weather. Bring it back in. So we are talking Christmas Eve and I have just asked her out!!! Life is going good suddenly! WRONG. She said she wasn't ready. I walk away confused because she clearly doesn't understand how fabulous I am and has just passed up a wonderful opportunity. Anyway, a few months later we have a much happier conversation and go on our first date March 4, 2017. She even made the wise choice of a second date. After several dates, we come to the point of "dating." We are not yet officially dating though, she wanted me to ask her father. I used to run track, but I was not exceptionally quick with this process. A few months later and after a conversation with Mr. Batista, I finally get the opportunity to ask her to be my girlfriend! She agrees, then slaps me thirty minutes later in the face. (Ask Brooke about that.) It was May 23, 2017. OKAY. Now we are at the engagement. I had planned a series of dates for Brooke and me to go on. The first was a date at Sweet Frog in which we drew pictures of things...including each other. The second, a movie date. This was sentimental because this is where I asked her to be my girlfriend. The third date she planned. I knew she was planning the date, without knowing what it was, but knew that it was going to be part of this "progressive proposal." We watched another movie in a tent pitched in her grandma's basement. The purpose of these three dates represented March, the third month. Finally, I had Brooke's sister, Jen, trick her into looking at wedding venues together. Well, unknown to Brooke, I was waiting in this barn at a wedding venue called Glendale Manor. As they were getting a tour of the venue they eventually made their way into the barn. Brooke and I danced for a few minutes that she said felt like an eternity. I finally plopped on a knee and popped the question. Good ole plop and pop. SHE SAID YESSSSS!!!!! This fourth occasion represented us starting our dating relationship on the fourth (of March.) Coincidentally, we are also getting married on the 4th of August. We can’t wait to see you there! Okay, now you have heard the correct side of the story! John 15:17 Brooke's Side: (The right side) Jake and I met at a Cruxtivities church event at the Honeycutt's House one Sunday afternoon. This particular night the whole group was planning on doing a lip-sync battle to see who could win, which really was just us goofing off and being silly. The entire group decided that we had to have a mean judge, a nice judge, and a real judge. I remember I was the nice judge and Jake was the mean judge. He would say the funniest things and I would just die laughing. I even remember thinking ... Oh he's really funny, he can stay! Lucky for me he did. After that we became closer friends, hanging out all the time! I couldn’t get him out of my mind and I really felt God saying give this goof ball a chance. So I did!!! We went on our first date where we toured downtown and took pictures with little wind up cameras. Our selfie game had to be on point ... and it was! After that I was smitten. He is such a wonderful, fun, silly, God fearing man… And he’s a looker too!!! He then asked me to be his girlfriend. We were at the movie theater waiting for our movie to start. While we were waiting he said he had a Dr. Seuss book for me but the rule was we had to read it together first. I thought it was strange but went with it. As we were reading the book his voice was shaking a little so I offer to read. We start getting close to the end and he says “Stop! I want to read the end!” Alright then Sir, but whatever. Finally we get to the end he turns past the last page. At the end there are hand drawn pictures of things we have done together and a poem asking me to be his girlfriend. Of course I say yes and we head into our movie. The movie we saw was a thriller but the previews were for scary movies. There was this particularly scary part that frightened me so bad that I 100% wacked Jake right in the face. What a way to start the relationship! But thankfully he continued to date me. We went on a ton of dates to the park, to the zoo, fancy dinner dates to sonic, and we even celebrated Arbor Day by planting a tree together (his name is Adam). Many month later we had talked about getting married. We even giggled like little children when others talked about us getting married, because that was something we were actually thinking about. One day my sister talked to me about this fella I had happen to be dating and asked the question "How serious is this relationship". I told her that I had found the man I plan on marrying. We had a heart to heart but then it was time to get to more serious things, LIKE WEDDING PLANNING!!! Jennifer said she wanted to go visit all of the cool venues for fun! She messaged me one day and said she wanted to visit this amazing place called Glendale Manor, just to see what it looked like and then possibly get pizza afterwards. I heard pizza and I was sold. Jennifer picked me up and we headed out. Now Jennifer is not a talker but on the way there she was talking up a storm about her schooling. I brushed it off because I just thought she was nervous about starting her Doctorate. Little did I know that Jen and Jake had something planned all along! We drove to Glendale Manor where we met Mrs. Wright. She began showing us the place, where we could get married, the different set up of what we could have for the wedding, and different things that were included. Then she leads us to the barn and said "You may notice some changes and upgrades since the last pictures were taken" and I walk in to the most gorgeous barn. There are candles everywhere, draped curtains, and lanterns galore. There was even a heart of roses set in the middle of the floor with candles around it! You would think I might have figured something out by then but NO. I walk in completely clueless and just say "Wow, did something happen here recently?" Then Jake walks around the corner and asked me to dance! That was my first hint that something was about to happen. We dance and I say "HI" about 400 times, at a loss for words. Finally he got down on one knee and said "Brooke Danielle Ashe Batista, will you marry me?" I SAID YESSS!!!! Then Jake and I walked around being children, laughing, dancing, and repeatedly telling one another that we were engaged (as if we could forget). Well that is the story of what really happened. Thanks for being a part of it all! (Don't listen to a word Jackson said)!