Katie's Version In May of 8th grade I took a class trip to Washington, DC. Little did I know that trip would essentially change my entire life. Although at this point TJ and I had been going to school together for the past two years, I had no clue who he was. TJ was in the honors classes and I was... not, so our paths had never really had the chance of crossing. I ended up sitting behind TJ on the airplane and that was the first time we had talked. That first day in DC we were getting to know each other, he was making fun of me because I had blonde hair and was wearing ugly shorts (my mom made me wear them, and he still reminds me about them to this day). Later that night, while back in our hotel rooms the boys in his rooms and the girls in my room, we spent the night calling each other on the hotel phones and talking the entire night (since we were 13 and not allowed to leave our rooms that were taped shut after 9pm). It was that night that TJ got my number from someone in his room and we started to text. On the second day of the trip, I turned to my friend and said "yeah, umm I like TJ" she knew instantly I was going to say that and told me she could tell. I spent the rest of that trip doing everything I could to make sure I was always with him, which eventually turned into making sure I was always with him for the rest of my life. LOL. Once the trip ended, we continued to text every single day, all night long, never forgetting the winky face or else someone was upset(; We grew closer throughout the years while growing together. Who knew when I was just 13 years old, after one weekend, I met my husband!!!! July 2009 we started dating and the rest is history! 11 years later - he finally proposed :) 13 years later and we're finally getting married! Here's to our forever - 07/09/2022 we can’t wait celebrate our love with all of you!🤍 TJ's Version I met Katie during our 8th grade field trip to Washington D.C. – I’ll never forget standing at T.F Green and instantly connecting with the girl who wore puke green and blue plaid shorts. My mom always said be nice to everyone, especially people who looked like they needed friends, and Katie definitely looked like she needed one! That entire weekend I found myself following her around the Capital while my friends continuously boasted “TJ LIKES KATIE”. Jokes on them, because I got her number. Never would I ever have imagined that one weekend on a school field trip to D.C. forever changed my life – yes, we found love in a hopeless place (I can make political jokes, it’s my… it’s Katie’s wedding). I’ll never forget the 3AM texts during the Summer or how we’d send every text with a smiley face just so we’d know the other person was happy (wish I was kidding). All joking aside, after that Summer, Katie and I were intertwined; she would wait for me outside homeroom for one of our infamous awkward hugs, she’d wait for me after my football games for a sweaty hug, and she waited for me the day I came home from college for our longest hug. Now after thirteen years of mostly ups and some downs, which were *all my fault* (key to a successful marriage… or so I’ve been told) I get to wait for her at the altar! Words cannot describe what she means to me – she is my backbone and the most important person in my life. I’ve said it time and time again, I don’t know where I’d be without her. I am so excited to see where life takes us – here’s to a lifetime together.