We met in English class of freshmen year for the first time. I asked Zach, “you’re new here, right?” And of course, I knew he was. There were only 20 kids in my class. We were such good friends in high school that we jokingly made a marriage pact. We said if we both were not married at 30 years old, we would marry each other. Funny enough, we are both now 30, getting married! After that, we remained friends all through high school and even college. Zach went off to Texas A&M and I moved to Florida. Even through the distance, we remained in contact here and there. In 2021, I moved home to Texas for a while. Zach was back from college and so we hung out often. He wanted to explore the idea of being more than friends, to which I declined. After about a month from that conversation, I realized something. I realized I missed him and indeed did have feelings for my best friend! We dated a little bit, but I moved back to Florida at the end of 2021. We discussed the idea of doing long distance, but ended up deciding against it. Fast forward to 2024, I came home for Christmas and Zachary came out with my friends for a night in the stockyards. We held hands and kissed like nothing had changed in 3 years. After that night, Zach told me he has tried dating, but always compared everyone to me. He told me that he wanted to be with me. While I still lived in Florida, we traveled back and forth to see each other in 2025 before my lease ended in July. I knew that I needed to move home to be closer to him, so I did. We said I love you on the first day of dating and the rest is history. God was preparing us all this time for each other. While we wanted to be together in 2021, we had a lot of growing to do as individuals. God’s timing is always perfect. And by trusting God, He gave us each other, the greatest gift and blessing. “It’s always been you,” is a phrase that really defines our relationship. For years, I think we always knew deep down we wanted each other. We couldn’t be happier and more blessed with the foundation we started with and where we are now. Thank God for love, happiness, and the gift of marriage.