T & E

Our story begins at Carolina Western Pub (CWP). I had been a regular at the bar for a few years and Erin’s first night there was in August of 2021. She came with her friends, Taylor and Evan, to dance. Evan introduced us that first night (Thanks Ev!) We became bar friends and would always hang out every time we were both there. At the time I was going 3+ nights a week. She was there mostly just on Thursdays nights but as time went on she became a regular. At this time she had bleached white money pieces at her hair line, all the way around, and the rest was black. This really stood out because I had never seen anyone with that hairstyle that wasn’t ready to fight someone. So we were friends for a while and we saw each other a good bit at the pub. I could kind of tell there could be something between us, but dating a girl from the bar and the potential for things going sideways seemed like a concoction for trouble. Cut to my 30th birthday in May. I had a birthday sign with 30 things to complete and one of them was “kiss 30 girls”. At the upstairs bar at CWP, I ran into Erin and got her to kiss me for my list. I used the line “you are the only girl I want to kiss 30 times”. After the kiss, she asked me how many times that night I had used that line. Already calling me out on my BS. We ended up kissing a few more times that night at the pub. Erin and her friends came back to the house for the after party and we kissed in the kitchen at the coffee pot. (Still a joke to this day with my best friend about that coffee pot.) A few weeks after that I was in Nashville for a friend’s birthday party. I had planned to stay for a few extra days to catch some free concerts in town. I invited Erin to come spend the extra days with me. She accepted and flew out to Nashville the next day. We had our first date in Nashville exploring the town and catching free concerts. We did the Ryman backstage tour, broadway bars, and whiskey jam. About a month later, I asked her to be my girlfriend at a Dierks Bentley concert where we had pit tickets. (See photo below!) Over the last 2 and a half years, country music and concerts have been a big part of our relationship and something that we have always enjoyed doing together. Erin is a 4th grade teacher so she gets a decent amount of time off so we travel a good amount. Notable trips include our trip to colonial Williamsburg, her parents condo in Florida, and St Kitts for Christmas last year. We really enjoy traveling and travel well together. I love the way that Erin challenges me to be a better person. She is always right and reminds me of that all the time. She is smart and funny and always down to go out and have fun. She puts up with me aggravating her all the time.