It was January 27th, 2013. Stephanie and her mom, who was visiting, walked into the W Hotel, Austin, for "The Sessions, Living Room Live" concert series. It was pretty immediate that Stephanie and Travis made eye contact upon arriving. Stephanie was surprised to find out her co-worker, who was also at the show, knew Travis well and so the official introduction was made! After hours of dancing, mingling and enjoying the show, Stephanie's mom pulled her aside to boast about how personable, handsome and sweet Travis was. They had a wonderful conversation which apparently led to them conspiring to get Stephanie to give Travis her number! Mamma knows best, so Stephanie was persuaded and gave Travis her number! A few days passed, and Travis asked Stephanie out on a date, and then another date and then a few more... although they had a great time together and enjoyed each other's company, the relationship never really grew beyond friendship at that time. Years went by with them coincidentally crossing paths, keeping up with each other's lives on social media, and multiple attempts to re-kindle to no avail due to one or the other being in a committed relationship...UNTIL March of 2018 when Stephanie reached out to Travis asking "How is our timing now?" and Travis replied "I can pick you up at 8pm!" The two have been inseparable since, and wonder what would have been if they would have given it a real shot all those years ago, although TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

Travis did an extraordinary job keeping their anniversary trip a surprise, for 6 months leading up to the departure! Of course, if you know Stephanie you know how much she "loves" surprises! She did everything to get a hint out of Travis, but no! March 27th, one year dating and the departure date of their trip, they arrive at the airport where Steph discovers they are heading to EL PASO! While she was incredibly grateful for Travis planning the entire thing, the thought did cross her mind "are we really celebrating our anniversary in El Paso?!" After the short flight, they arrive in El Paso and Travis leads them to the rental car facility. Stephanie utters quietly "THANK GOODNESS, maybe Big Bend?" Travis came prepared with a blind fold so she wouldn't gain any hints along the drive. After an hour or so drive, they stop and Travis helps Steph out of the car. She discovers the feeling of sand beneath her feet... definitely NOT BIG BEND! They walk up a steep hill, Stephanie still blind folded, Travis whispers the sweetest, most loving, beautiful words before removing her blind fold. I guess you could say Steph was "blinded" by LOVE! They were in White Sands, NM and the sun reflecting off that sand was quite bright/ blinding after being in darkness for so long! Nonetheless, when Stephanie's eyes adjusted, she found Travis bent down on one knee, tearfully asking for her hand in marriage. It was absolutely perfect, and Travis was sneaky enough to get their mutual friend, Ryan Rose (a professional photographer) to drive all the way from ATX to White Sands and capture it all! Stephanie asked Travis why White Sands, besides the obvious that Stephanie and Travis were both from NM and White Sands had a special place in both their hearts. Travis replied, "You may not remember but when we first started dating you showed me pictures of an engagement in White Sands and said how beautiful it would be to have a photo shoot there. I wanted to make that dream a reality for you."