Me and Liv’s first date was an extremely nerve racking experience for me. I had been talking to this beautiful girl who was older and cooler and really good at basketball and most importantly loved Jesus. She was (and still is) wayyyyy out of my league. So when I asked her to go get ice cream with me I was extremely nervous to say the least. I remember pacing around my living room before the date asking my friends if I looked alright and for any tips they had. My buddy Jaxon said to me “chill out bro, it’s not like you’re asking her to marry you”. Little did he know, haha. Anyways, my friend Trey was letting me borrow his car because mine was in the shop. As I was about to leave I cued up the song I wanted to be playing in the car when I picked her up, “My Maria” by Brooks & Dunn. I got to Liv’s apartment and my heart was pounding as I walked up to her door. I knew her friends had to be up there watching through the window and listening in. She opened the door with her pretty smile and then we got in the car and started on our way to cold stone. Liv says that I was driving extremely fast but I don’t remember that (probably because I was so nervous). I parked Trey’s car right in front of the store and we went in and had a great time talking and getting to know each other. Turns out she was a keeper!!! As we left the store and walked outside we saw that Trey’s car was gone… we were both so confused. Turns out my friends took Trey’s spare key and moved the car during our date. We ended up finding it down the street a little ways, but not before I was freaked out and a little embarrassed. I dropped Liv off back at her apartment and told her that I had an amazing time and would love to go out again sometime. She agreed and the rest is history!

We knew from early on that we had found the person we wanted to marry. Originally we thought we would get engaged in the Spring of 2026, then that turned into Winter of 2025, and after we went ring shopping during Christmas break in 2024 that quickly turned into Spring 2025! Luckily Cade is a money saver, hehe. With both of our busy schedules, I figured Cade would propose in the spring after basketball was over. So when all of my friends who lived out of town planned to come to Hays for one of my friends birthdays, I had a sneaky suspicion it might be the weekend! That weekend, Cade asked me to go on a sushi date to our favorite place to celebrate our one year anniversary that was the following week. When he picked me up, he told me we needed to go on a walk (in the 45 degree weather) "because our table wasn't ready yet." Now the butterflies started kicking in! So once we walked by a park by my apartment, a route we had taken many times, he popped the question! He had a teammate hiding in the bushes to capture the moment, and we debriefed the whole thing over sushi with just us. Then we facetimed our families and arrived back to Cade's to a house full of our favorite people, which was decorated by all of my amazing best friends. It was the perfect night and we felt sooo loved!