B: I just moved to Nashville, I know no one and this is my first project with a new company. Here goes. Z: I was working for the electrical contractor on this project for a couple weeks before a girl showed up on site. B: I started asking guys (that spoke English) what they were doing to get to know the project and crews working on it. Z: I was up on a ladder when She walked past and asked me what are you working on? B: He seemed friendly, non-threatening and easy to talk to, I’ll keep that in mind for slow days. Z: She kept coming back and talking to me for weeks. My boss said I can’t talk to her at work anymore. B: He slipped me his number on a ripped piece of cardboard as we walked past each other without a word. I made a friend.

B: Want to go ax throwing, as friends? Z: Sure. Z: Come to my birthday and meet all my other friends? B: Sure. I need to meet more people. I can’t believe how many of your friends were homeschooled, Homeschool Kid. B: Want to go to the movies, as friends? Z: Sure. B: Want to go to the mall- Z: I know, as friends. Sure. B: Where are you? Wrong mall! Z: Opry Mills? Oh… Not Opry Mills. B: I start on a different project tomorrow. You know where you are going after this? Z: I don’t know yet. B: Want to try a new restaurant as friends? Z: Sure. B: Renovate my house, as friends? Z: Sure. B: Cheekwood Botanical Gardens? Do you take good pictures? It’s for Instagram. Z: Yes I do. Sure I’ll go with you, as a friend. B: Lantern Festival as friends? Z: Sure. B: Renaissance Festival as friends? Z: Sure. B: Do a puzzle as friends? Z: Sure. B: Help me move into my house? Z: Sure. B: Ballroom dancing in the park? Z: Sure. B: Install all the flooring in my house? Z: Sure. B: Will you be my boyfriend? Z: Yes. I thought she’d never ask.

That first fall together we had to plan ‘meet the parents’ on both sides. It was easier to line up lunch with Zack’s parents than the flight to the snowy North for a weekend, but we made both happen. Brittany warned Zack that it wasn’t just meeting her parents, it was the grandmas, aunts, and most of the cousins all at once. We survived the holidays with each other's families and started the New Year with new goals together and dreams of the future. We spent the spring and summer taking trips to Home Depot, going on vacations, dancing in the park, and continuing to explore Nashville. In September, we dressed up and went out on the town! We grabbed dinner at a local steakhouse ($$$) for our first anniversary.

On Friday, October 13th, we planned a date at Cheekwood to see an art installation that included lights all through the gardens. Brittany was ready a little late, as usual, after she had to glue a broken nail back together. Can’t risk having bad nails at her favorite place 😉 Brittany and Zack walked through all the gardens and were going to make one last stop before heading home: the turtle pond! But part way there, Zack changed their course and at that moment Brittany knew. He guided her to a gazebo and then got down on one knee. And now here we are planning a wedding! ~The next chapter starts June 29, 2024.~