Ryan’s Version:

We met like most other couples.  As I was eating dinner at the dining center my freshman year, I noticed a bright light out of the corner of my eye.  Yes, Heaven had opened up and bestowed upon me a woman of breathtaking magnificence.  I had to play it cool…couldn’t mess this up…it was too good to be true.  After a semester of the TV show, “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé,” Calculus II with Professor Doolittle, walks, talks, the board game “Battle of the Sexes,” and a summer of car wrecks and landscaping, it was finally time to be more than just friends.  As expected, I managed to stumble my way through a fail-safe pick up line, “So what would my chances be if I were to ask you out?”  This of course was answered with, “What? Well that would depend. Are you asking me out?”  I said “Maybe,” and she said “Yes.”  Man…I’m smooth.  One thing led to another, and now we’re getting hitched just six years later.

Diana’s Version:

Our paths first crossed as freshmen in college, when I needed a ride to the Iowa City area.  After hearing this, my good friend Kate mentioned that she had a friend (Ryan) who would be heading that same direction.  Being the naïve freshman I was, the idea of taking a road trip with a college age guy I had never met sounded like a fabulous idea.  As it turned out, I actually found another ride that weekend, and told Kate to thank “that Ryan-friend of hers, since I’d probably never see him again.”  Or so I thought…

Kate and I would often eat dinner together after Marching Band practice.  On several occasions, Kate would bring along a few friends from her high school who also attended Iowa State.  One of these friends happened to be Ryan.  I remembered Ryan from his previous ride offer, and we became instant friends. 

The semester ended, and summer arrived.  One night, as I was driving home, a deer ran out in front of me, and I hit it…with my Dad’s car.  With my parents on a cruise and my brother in Florida, I panicked.  All of a sudden, my phone rang.  Although Ryan had never called me before just to “chat,” it just so happened that he picked this most opportune time to call.  He calmed me down, and reminded me of a thing called “car insurance.”  From that moment on, I started to notice Ryan a bit more, and realized that my feelings for him may be more than that of “just friends.”  We enjoyed many more conversations that summer, and became a couple that fall.