Michelle Zinski and Nik Scalise met during their first week as freshmen at James Madison University. Michelle had gone to visit a classmate, and when she arrived at his room, he wasn’t there—but his roommate, Nik, was. Michelle and Nik hit it off and became inseparable friends. But it wasn’t until they decided to go on a cruise together for spring break senior year that their friendship developed into something more. Says Michelle: “I remember seeing an article in a magazine titled ‘Signs That Your Best Friend Is Your Future Husband’ and thinking that all those signs were right in front of me.”

After graduation, Michelle and Nik landed jobs in DC and moved in together. But about a year later, Michelle was offered a job with CBS in New York, so for the next five years, she and Nik endured the ups and downs of a long-distance relationship. Despite a few breakups and makeups, their love survived. In November 2007, Michelle was offered a job as a production consultant with CBS Sports in Washington and moved back.

Kristin and Ross at Great Falls after Ross popped the question.

If you think love blooms only in hospitals on Grey’s Anatomy, think again. On their first day of medical school at the University of Miami in August 2003, Ross Krasnow and Kristin Sokol spotted each other from across the room. “I thought she was too pretty to be in medical school,” says Ross, 28. Kristin thought Ross was cute, too. The pair became good friends, but by February Ross was ready to take it to the next level.

He asked Kristin, 27, out on a Valentine’s Day date. They went to an amusement park and then out to a fancy oyster dinner in Miami. “I remember how handsome he looked—it was the first time I saw him truly dressed up,” she says. “I also remember how expensive the dinner was! I felt terrible when he looked at the bill. But he was a gentleman and paid without saying a word.”

Whoever said high-school crushes don’t last must not have met Anne Crum and Mike Kelley. The pair met at the Army Navy Country Club in Fairfax when they were both 16. Mike was playing a round of golf with his best friend, and Anne was working a summer job in the pro shop. “When I saw Mike walk into the shop,” says Anne, 24, “I remember thinking that he was so good looking and carried himself with such confidence.” Mike, 25, was equally smitten: “After checking in with her and having a brief conversation, we walked outside, and I turned to my buddy and said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’ ”

Eight years of dating later, Mike, a Capitol Hill staffer, was setting the stage for that to happen. He called Anne’s parents to ask their permission to marry her, and they gave him a resounding yes. So he took his grandmother’s diamond and had it reset for Anne, an account executive at Sara McGregor’s Capitol Catering. “When my grandmother was still alive, she’d always tell Anne that her diamond would be Anne’s someday,” Mike says. “I know my grandmother would’ve wanted her to have it. I miss her every day, and it’s nice to see the diamond and think of her.”

About two years ago, Rachel Minkoff was checking out JDate.com when she spotted Eric Neuschaefer. “There was something about him,” says Rachel, who paid for a subscription to the online dating site so she could get in touch with Eric. A few e-mails and phone calls later, they had planned their first date. He showed up at her house with a container of olives from the Italian Store in Arlington because he remembered her saying how much she loved them. After a fun night out at Aroma in Cleveland Park, Eric, 30, dropped Rachel, 28, off at home. “I was beyond nervous and tried so hard to sneak in a kiss,” says Eric, a government contractor. “Out of nowhere, she struck first by taking the first move and kissed me goodnight. I had an ear-to-ear smile the rest of the night.”

About a month into dating, the pair decided to call in sick to work and head to the National Zoo for the day. “I think that’s where we really fell in love,” says Rachel, a recruiter for an information-technology firm. “The zookeepers were out, the weather was unseasonably warm, and we got to be all cute and lovey in public because everyone we knew was at work. We had such a great day, and that has turned into our spot.”

One hot summer weekend in 2005, Justin Garrison drove from Blacksburg, Virginia, to Bethesda to visit his best friend, Ryan, a fraternity brother from Virginia Tech. Ryan introduced Justin to his roommate, Stephanie Arnold, a friend of Ryan’s from high school. It didn’t take long for Justin and Stephanie to hit it off. After a fun night out in Adams Morgan, both of them felt as though something clicked. But when they got back to the house, Stephanie disappeared for the rest of the night. Justin took that to mean she wasn’t as interested in him as he thought. “The next morning we talked a little bit,” says Justin, 26. “But I felt like the opportunity wasn’t there, so I didn’t think that she was interested enough for me to ask her for her phone number.”

Big mistake. “The next morning after we all woke up and were hanging out, I just didn’t get that ‘he’s interested’ vibe,” says Stephanie, 26. “I mean, he was friendly, but then he didn’t ask for my phone number. Bummer.” So Justin headed back to Blacksburg, ready to start a master’s program in the fall at Virginia Tech. He came back a few times throughout the year to visit Ryan, but the romantic timing was never right for Stephanie and Justin. On one visit, Justin says, a friend of Stephanie’s was fixing her up with someone else.

Fast-forward a year and a half to December 31, 2006. Justin came up to ring in the new year, and neither he nor Stephanie was dating anyone. Justin had a plan: This time, he would let Stephanie clearly know that he was into her. “The night before, I made sure that I talked to her as much as possible and made it known that I was interested in her,” says Justin, an analyst with the Department of Homeland Security.

Jennifer Wilmes and Lloyd McGuire met as students at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. They started out as friends but began dating when Jennifer was a junior and Lloyd was a senior. After graduating Lloyd, 28, headed to South Carolina for law school and Jennifer, 27, went to Boston for a graduate degree in nutrition. There were a few breakups and makeups, but the pair got back together for good in the spring of 2006. “We love to envision and talk about our future,” says Jennifer, a dietitian. “And whenever we do, we’re always married.”

They’d gone ring shopping together this spring, so needless to say, Jennifer was ready for the big surprise from Lloyd. “I’d been getting my nails done every week just in case, ” she says. But the week before Memorial Day weekend, she skipped the manicure. Jennifer and Lloyd were heading to Texas to see both of their families and to go to a friend’s wedding. “Surely not the time or place for a proposal,” Jennifer thought. What she didn’t know was that Lloyd had designed a ring, and it was en route to his parents’ ranch in time for the long weekend.

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