Kolby and I both grew up in Aurora. We were one grade apart in school but never interacted much outside of a few passing conversations during track practice ( we both did hurdles). However, in between girlfriends or boyfriends during middle and high school, we always thought one another was cute and would talk to our friends about it, but never each other. Kolby then graduated and went to college, and I was enjoying my senior year of high school. One day, my mom and I were having a conversation, and Kolby's name came up. For a brief moment, I said, "Oh yeah, I always thought he was cute," and that was the end of the conversation. A few weeks later, as we went to all my classmate's graduations, she told me she kept seeing him there and thought it was a sign to tell Janna, Kolby's mom, that I said he was cute. Janna passed that information on to Kolby, and he felt the same about me ;). As we continued to go to graduation parties and Kolby reconnected with his hometown friends, my name would come up again and again. Then, the night I graduated high school, my friend and her brother, Kolby's friend, were having people out to their house. I decided I did not want to go because it had been a long day, but everyone was telling me I needed to come out there because Kolby had heard I might be coming. He said he only would if I was going to be out there, so I decided to go, and that whole night, Kolby and I were forced to hang out and talk the most we had ever talked, and we have not gone a day without talking since then!

It's funny to think about all the little pieces that had to fall into place for us to reconnect, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. We are each other's best friends. We love hanging out with our friends and family, going to country concerts, being lazy, and watching One Tree Hill all day.

After almost three years of dating, Kolby decided to pop the question. A week or two before the engagement, my sister-in-law, Felicia, texted Kasey and me to ask if we could "model" for Alivia, my good friend and Felicia's sister, because she was trying to build her photography business. When I read that text, two things came to mind. One, I was going to get engaged, or two, Caden and Felicia would tell us they were pregnant. While everyone played it off very well, I still had a little thought in the back of my head that I was getting engaged. However, on the day of the engagement, Kolby and I were playing in a sand volleyball tournament, and, in true Jaylee fashion, I broke my toe. So, needless to say, I was pretty distracted for the rest of the day. However, when we were getting ready, I noticed that my two best friends were back in town, and I still just had some sort of feeling I couldn't shake. Then Kasey drove me out to the pasture to get our pictures taken, and Kolby was not out there right away, so I completely pushed the fact that it might be happening out of my mind. After a few pictures were taken, I noticed everyone take a step back, and my brother was trying to walk in front of/ hide Kolby as he made his way down the path to me. It was so special that my siblings and one of my best friends got to be there and capture that moment for me. After that, we took a few more pictures and headed out to the cabin, where the rest of my family, his family, and a few of our close friends were waiting to celebrate with us. We both felt so loved that day and can't wait to celebrate our love again with everybody in June!