Update wedding date is 05-22-27

Some love stories begin with fireworks. Ours began with a donut… and a Thirsty Thursday. We met in high school when I was 15 and he was 17. At first, we were just friends — the kind of friends who couldn’t stop talking and laughing, even when we were supposed to be paying attention. We were always getting in trouble in class for whispering to each other or laughing at things no one else understood. Even then, being around him felt easy. Comfortable. Like my favorite part of the school day. But beneath the friendship, there was something soft and unspoken. Every Thursday, he would bring me a donut and a Thirsty Thursday drink. It became our little tradition. It wasn’t flashy or dramatic. It was simple. Thoughtful. Intentional. And somehow, those small Thursdays meant everything. I liked him. He liked me. But we were young, and neither of us wanted to risk ruining our friendship. What we had felt too important to lose. So instead of saying what was in our hearts, we stayed in that safe space — laughing, talking, pretending it wasn’t more… even though it was. I would even drive out to the farm just to see him for a few minutes. Just a couple of minutes felt worth it. One time, in true fashion, I even dropped my phone straight into cow manure while I was there. 😂 Not exactly glamorous — but when you really like someone, even standing in cow poop (and sacrificing your phone) feels worth it. Life eventually pulled us in different directions. We grew up. We experienced life without each other. Seven years passed. Seven years. And then one day, out of the blue, I sent a text message It seemed simple, but it felt like fate. When we started spending time together again, it was like no time had passed — only this time, we weren’t scared. We weren’t 15 and 17 anymore. We knew what we felt. We knew what we wanted. All those laughs in class. All those donuts. All those Thursdays. All those quick visits to the farm — even the cow manure incident — weren’t just teenage memories. They were the beginning of something that was always meant to find its way back to us. What started as a friendship we were too afraid to risk became a love we are now brave enough to choose forever. Sometimes love doesn’t happen all at once. Sometimes it waits. And when the timing is finally right… it feels like coming home. 💍✨