Alexandra and Ashby’s story began in the spring of 2018, during their sophomore year of college, when two best friends—and a night in Tigerland—introduced them at just twenty years old. Though their connection was immediate, timing had other plans. Ashby was attending Ole Miss while Alexandra was at LSU, and despite shared laughter, easy conversation, and quiet crushes, distance kept them firmly in the space of friendship. In the fall of 2019, everything changed. Ashby transferred back to LSU to finish his degree, Alexandra had just returned from studying abroad in Valparaíso, Chile, and the two quickly reconnected through the same friendships that had first brought them together. What had once been friendship deepened immediately. That December, picnicking atop the Indian Mounds on LSU’s campus—with Rebel, Ashby’s loyal family dog, faithfully by his side—Ashby asked Alexandra to be his girlfriend. It was a simple moment, made meaningful by intention, trust, and the beginning of something rooted in commitment. Just months later, the world shifted. COVID disrupted campus life and sent Alexandra back home to Houston to finish college, ushering in a long season of long distance. For four years, Alexandra and Ashby navigated life between Houston and Baton Rouge, making countless drives across the bayou. It was not always easy, but it was formative—teaching them patience, perseverance, and the strength that comes from choosing one another daily. During those years, the beach became a place of rest and renewal. Trips with Ashby’s family to Miramar Beach in Florida—where Alexandra first met the Woolf family—became sacred pauses in the rhythm of distance. It was by the water, under familiar sunsets, that their love continued to grow. Four years later, Ashby graduated and moved to Houston, beginning a new chapter side by side and under her parent's roof. Later that fall, while once again gathered with family at the beach, Ashby escorted Alexandra to take pictures with the sunset, honoring four years of tradition, and proposed by the bay—marking a joyful “yes” to the life they had patiently built. Since settling in Houston, Alexandra and Ashby have not only started creating a home together, moving into their dream high rise and adopting an abandoned baby kitten, Lucy, but have also deepened their faith in the Lord. Together, they chose to be married in the Catholic Church, grounding their marriage in sacrament and covenant. As part of this shared journey, Ashby is joyfully converting to Catholicism and will be confirmed this coming Easter Sunday, just one month before their wedding ceremony. This year, Alexandra and Ashby prepare for marriage with gratitude and faith—continuing the love story of a Texas Latina, with Nicaraguan roots, that fell in love with a good old, Southern Baton Rouge boy, where bluebonnets met magnolias, and where God’s grace has guided every step.