Daniel Robinson was on a mission to launch his college experience in 1997 when he met the woman who would be his partner for life.

He and Tiffany Watkins were incoming freshmen at Hendrix College in Conway, assigned to different groups on an orientation trip to Eureka Springs. They had different schedules during the days but everyone got together for bonding activities in the evenings. Rubber Band Ball

"One of the things they did was have us all pick an adjective from the first letter of your name," he says. "She was 'tiny' Tiffany," he says. "That's probably my first memory of her."

Daniel, who played soccer for Hendrix, had already met Tiffany's older brother, a senior at the college.

"My brother wasn't on the soccer team but all of his friends were. He had already moved back to Conway, and Daniel had been hanging with him and all his buddies," Tiffany says. "We kind of ended up just with the same group of friends and we hung out together -- and we kind of just never quit hanging out."

Daniel jokes that he hadn't developed "phone skills" just yet, having gone to Subiaco Academy where all the boys had to share one pay phone.

"It was kind of funny," she says. "If he was going to make a phone call, it was an important phone call. He never called to chitchat or anything. But he called and invited me to dinner and that was our first date."

On Nov. 1, 1997, they went to a Sadie Hawkins dance sponsored by Tiffany's dorm. He had been invited not by Tiffany, but by Tiffany's roommate on her behalf. That, says Tiffany, is the date they celebrate as their "date-a-versary."

They dated all the way through college, enjoying typical things like dining out and watching comedies. They had a weekly tradition of gathering with friends to watch World Championship Wrestling or World Wrestling Entertainment.

"We would have big watch parties and all hang out, which is hysterical. We all knew the storylines and we went to [then-]Alltel [Arena] to see a live show a couple of times, too," Tiffany says.

After graduation they both moved to Little Rock with the same roommates they had in college, keeping their focus on being young as they started their careers.

Tiffany didn't think Daniel would be able to surprise her with a marriage proposal after they had dated for almost seven years.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2004, Daniel was entertaining her family at their home with the magic tricks she had seen him perform many times before. Tiffany's family's beloved dog had died earlier that week, and she was feeling sad. She was on the phone with her sister-in-law, who hadn't been able to make it home for the holiday, and was resistant to all the encouragements to come and see them again.

"I was just chatting it up with her, but eventually I got off the phone and went into the living room and Daniel's got his little magic box out and he's doing his magic trick," she says. "He did it once for my brother."

The trick involved writing your initials on a dime, which he drops out of sight.

"He pulls out a box with rubber bands around it and then there's another box inside that and there's another box inside that and you dump it out," she explains. "Somehow, when you're done the one you've written your name on comes out of the box, like magic."

She told everyone she had seen it before and that she was impressed and didn't know how he did it, but she didn't need to do it again. Daniel insisted, telling her he had changed something and she needed to see. She wrote her initials on the dime, and let her attention drift as he started pulling out boxes.

"But he ended up down on one knee, and instead of a dime dumping out of the box, a diamond ring dumped out of the box," she says "So there he is, proposing in front of my whole family. It was so cute. He did such a good job."

Tiffany and Daniel were married on Oct. 1, 2005, at Tiffany's parents' home in Little Rock.

The ceremony was on the front lawn and the reception was in the back, with a station that was specific to Tiffany and Daniel's favorite foods.

They honeymooned in Mexico, and it wasn't until they returned home that they moved their things into a house they bought before their wedding.

"For the first week or so we actually lived with her roommates, until we got moved in," Daniel says.

Daniel is vice president and senior regional investment officer for Arvest Bank. Tiffany started her career at Barbara/Jean as marketing and promotions assistant in 2001; in 2019 she bought the majority interest in the business.

"We got married and bought a house and kind of started being grownups. Now we have Nebby, a million years later," she says. "We're just trying to soak in every minute, and Daniel is the best dad ever. I mean, I just feel so lucky. It's so wonderful."

If you have an interesting how-we-met story or if you know someone who does, please call (501) 425-7228 or email:

The first time I saw my future spouse:

She says: “We were on this orientation trip and we were stopping to eat. He was this funny guy — I was more of a quiet person — and he had on this silly hat.”

He says: “I thought she was beautiful.”

She says: “I feel like it was perfect. It really was. It was one of the happiest days.”

He says: “She rode up for the wedding in a horse-drawn carriage. It was pretty amazing seeing her get out of the carriage.”

My advice for a long happy marriage:

She says: “Open communication. And don’t give up.”

He says: “Open communication. Grow together. And it’s important to pick someone who, when you’re 100 years old and your body has failed and everything’s gone, you can just sit on a front porch with that person and that’s enough.”

Print Headline: He proposed to her with his box-inside-a-box trick

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