“The very first time I saw Ashley was at church and at the time our church had this internship. I was helping lead the interns with our college pastor and Ashley was apart of the group. I remember seeing Ashley and instantly thinking wow she’s so pretty. A couple of weeks go by and we were setting up for the college service that we were having that night and I was setting some lights up and Ashley walks over and asks if she can help. Of course I said yes again thinking she’s super cute, she loves God and she was goofy which was right up my alley. The night goes on and I was too afraid to ask for her number. So we go our separate ways at the end of the night. Fast forward to the very next semester Ashley ended up in some of my friends group and I thought it was now or never. She added me on Snapchat (from the group we were in) and so I saw it as an opportunity to pursue her. Me and the college pastor go to a UNA football game together and earlier in that day, Ashley and I had been messaging back and forth. We get to the game and we’re sitting there and Ashley comes walking up the stadium (on the inside I’m thinking to myself “please sit down next to me” there’s an open seat next to me). We all say hey as she’s walking up and next thing I know she’s sitting next to me (I was screaming with joy on the inside). The conversation flowed and was natural, it came easy. A couple of our best friends knew that I was head over heels for Ashley at this point, and they get a lot of credit for helping set us up. Our very first “date” in my opinion was a night at Texas Roadhouse and Ashley was studying for a huge test but the girls had never seen “Remember the Titans”, so we talked her into coming over to my house and we watched the movie, but me being as OCD as I am, my room wasn’t clean (few shirts in the floor) and I was panicking so I made them stand outside of my room (in the cold) while I cleaned my room super fast. Ashley whispered to me “it’s okay, you can relax I don’t care if it’s clean or not”. That very moment told me that we were going to be more than just friends. November 7th 2019, I asked Ashley to be my girlfriend and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. She made me laugh, smile, brings out the best in me and most of all she loves Jesus. She supported me as I chased my dreams of being a student pastor, while our relationship took a turn and went long distance for 11 months, she was still there for me through all the highs and lows. God brought us back to the same city we met in, not only for us to get married in, but serve the shoals by reaching students for the Kingdom.” - Tristan