10.29.22

Grayson and I met September 8th, 2019 at Grace Bible Church in College Station. We both joined Youth Impact, a youth ministry that ended up changing our lives in many ways, and we were placed on the same team "Little Littles"! I actually do not remember the first time I met Grayson and we laugh that he remembers meeting me because I was chatty and outgoing. We had some mutual friends that would all hangout together too, which began a fun and easy friendship for us. I definitely had a crush on the "guy from Amarillo" but never thought much would come from it. COVID sent us all home from A&M, and we returned fall of 2020 to an online version of college that allowed for a lot of free time. We played a lot of Phase 10, went to McDonalds practically every night, and ran around the church playground with 5 and 6 year olds. I found myself really enjoying my time around Grayson, growing to deeply admire his character as we served alongside each other, and waiting for him to catch on to what everyone except Grayson knew. That spring, he finally realized that I actually liked him as more than a good friend... and he slyly asked me to come "borrow" my Phase 10 cards one night. He was shaking and rambling and I heard something along the lines of "can I take you on a date" and I cut him off with an enthusiastic YES! April 2nd, 2021 we went on our first date, April 4th we started dating, and the rest is history! It really is sweet to look back on those times and see how God placed Grayson in my life through serving the church and community. Our story is funny, a reflection of our truest selves, and an example of God's love and kindness to us. We get to love each other because Christ has loved us first, and pray that our marriage will reflect God's covenant love to his people!

May 13, 2022 It was the day of Calli’s graduation, but I was the one with the most nerves. Calli was expecting to go to a simple lunch at a family friends’ home in College Station to celebrate before graduation. What she didn’t know was that I had put the lunch together and invited way more people than just her family. I was driving to pick Calli up, and all I was thinking about was how the next chapter of our lives and relationship was about to start. In the meantime, all Calli was thinking about was what shoes to wear to graduation. As I pulled up to her house, I was so nervous and didn’t think I would be able to keep a straight face when I saw her, but in typical Calli fashion she didn’t stop talking about the plans for the day and didn’t even give me a chance to ruin my surprise. As we made our way to the “lunch”, I was playing dumb, acting like I didn’t know where to go and even asking who all is going to be there, just to throw Calli off. We got near the house and pulled up to the park where I had a photographer waiting. I stopped the car and said, “I have a surprise for you.” The next words out of Calli’s mouth were “shut up”. As we made our way down the sidewalk it was obvious to Calli what was about to happen. As we got to the spot I didn’t even need to speak before Calli started to shed a tear. We both cried, and I told her that she was going to have to let me get through what I wanted to say. Neither of us really remember what I said, but I was finally able to get down on one knee and ask Calli to marry me. Through lots of tears, she said yes! We got to soak up the moment and then went to celebrate with our families and friends. And later that day, Calli graduated!