I have known Steve for many years. We have been friends and colleagues at Lenovo for 10 years! We kept in touch when I moved to Atlanta mainly by the NCAA Tournament pool Steve managed. I was always impressed by how funny, outgoing, and kind Steve is! In 2016, I was in town for one of my best friends wedding showers. Later that night, I bumped into Steve and happened to mention to him that I had always thought he was cute!! After that statement, things were never the same, and Steve started to coyly pursue me from afar. I was back in town during the holidays, and met up with Steve again to watch a NC State game. He noticed that I had a huge burn on my hand from a cooking accident. Randomly for my birthday, a package appeared at my door in Atlanta. Steve had sent me the nicest oven mitts I have ever seen! From then on, I knew there was something special about this guy. I wanted to move back to Raleigh, and when I was offered a great job- Steve was one of the first people I pinged at work to let them know. From that message on, Steve was always there to support and help me. He sent me flowers on Valentines day, shivered his way through an epic canoe camping trip, helped me move multiple times, helped out with Dash, and was my rock and constant. I knew I could not live without Steve after I came back from a two week trip, and decided I did not want to do this life without him! Not only is Steve a great partner, but he is also a wonderful Dad. I am extremely lucky that his lovely daughter Peyton has accepted me, and we have so much fun together! Steve's knows that family is very important to me, and It is wonderful to see those same values in his family. Steve is my best friend, the life of the party, the best band manager, the best sports announcer, the best dog and cat dad, the best father, and someone you can always count on. I am very lucky to have found my other half and promise to always stand by his side.

This didn't allow me to save the first time because I wrote too many "words". So I'm splitting this into two parts. What Francesca wrote previously is all true. We just randomly ran into each other one night, she hinted she had a crush on me, so I took it upon myself to “court” her. I would check in with her randomly while she was living in Atlanta and when she would come in town I would try to set up time to hang out. Then one day I received a message from her that she was moving back to Raleigh. I was extremely delighted to hear this but had no clue what that meant for my prospects. However once she was fully back SHE pinged me at work and from there on out I don’t believe a day has gone by without us talking, either through work chat or hanging out after work. She was staying with her parents during this time so I was probably a partial excuse for her not to have to be home before the streetlights came on, lol. As things progressed my feelings for her were developing even more. I didn’t just fall in love with her once, I fell in love with her over and over again. She knew I had a daughter, Peyton, and I was very protective over her. Francesca was always very positive and encouraging about Peyton so when I found it was time for her to finally meet Peyton it was amazing. They were both so nervous (as was I) however they hit it off immediately and that was when I was completely hooked.

Unfortunately a couple months later my Grandmother's health started to deteriorate. If you don’t know me that well you should know that my Grandmother was like a mom to me. She raised me and made me the person I am today. During this time I was fortunately able to introduce her to Francesca. Chess was extremely supportive during this time and went out of her way to make myself and my family feel better. She cooked meals for my Grandfather and would do anything to help. This was another time my heart continued to fall for her. During this time we spent many vacations/trips together and we always had a blast whether it was going on hiking adventures, late night times, or just food hopping (where we go to several different restaurants and try different cool apps). I just couldn’t help falling in love over and over again. The final piece was meeting her family and her family was as welcoming as she had been not only to me but to Peyton as well. I knew she was everything I could ever want in someone…she is the total package brains, beauty, competitiveness and kindness. She is my best friend and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.