I was living in College Station at the time and was getting close to finishing up nursing school. My best friend, Briana, came to town to visit and we went out to the strip of bars called Northgate to dance and have a few drinks. When it was time for last call, Briana ordered an Uber for us to get home. I love telling this story just because I think it just shows how we literally met by fate. Of all the Uber drivers hanging out near the bars, we were lucky enough to get Ian as our driver! I thought he was cute and he thought I was funny (which obviously I am) and the rest is history! We’ve been attached at the hips since then.

Ian and I love traveling. Until we met, Ian had actually never even left the state of Texas! Our first “big vacation” was to New Orleans in September of 2018 for our birthdays since they are only a few days apart. We fell in love with the city! We had already planned a trip to Florida for summer, and decided to spend a few nights in NOLA to break up the 16 hour drive. I got an amazing deal on a beautiful hotel right off of Bourbon Street that had the most romantic courtyard I’ve ever seen. We went to an early dinner and came back to the hotel to drop off the car and I wanted to have a drink in the beautifully lit up courtyard. We asked a young woman who was there with her friends (who we later found out spoke very little English) to take a few pictures of us. She did, and then Ian asked her again, while mumbling in her ear very awkwardly to take a few more. He took my drink from me, got down on one knee, and asked me to spend forever with him. The first thing I asked him was, “Are you SURE?!” followed by “YES!” It was perfect, and beautiful, and so romantic. New Orleans and that courtyard will always have a special in my place now.