I remember the first time I met Rachel like it was yesterday. I walked up to her at work and said “Hi, I’m Carson! You’re Bill Townsend’s daughter right?” (What a horrible first impression). At the time, due to her being the boss’ daughter, as well as both of us in relationships elsewhere, I didn’t think much of it. The summer had come and gone. Rachel had gone back to college and I presumably thought “I will never see her again”. Then, she magically appears at the company picnic. Rachel walked over, said hello and began talking to Jameson. She explained she was single and living the dream, excited about her future. I took advantage of this and proceeded to Instagram DM her a few days later and asked if we could get a drink with me. She turned me down with a “maybe over Christmas break when I’m back in town”. Fast forward to Christmas break and sure enough she reached out to me to meet up! I specifically remember thinking “oh she wants to talk about the business and job opportunities.” Boy was I wrong! It quickly became a flirty conversation. We had a phenomenal night, with a bottle of wine and a kiss outside Blarney Stone to end it! I quickly discovered that I liked her significantly more than I thought and wanted to get to know her more. Although it hasn’t always been easy, my love for Rachel has grown and it has reached places that I never new existed. The scary thing is that I continue to fall more in love with her as time goes on. And most importantly I knew she was the one for me as I see the way she talks to, interacts with, and loves Jameson. I could not be more proud and excited to raise Jameson and our future family, hand in hand with her. Rachel is the most beautiful, strong, loyal, and caring person I have ever met. The awkward meeting with the bosses daughter turned out to be the beginning chapter of a book filled with love. On February 18th of 2023, I will marry Rachel Maria Townsend and I can’t wait for our story and the chapters ahead!

Three years ago, my dad made my sister and I attend his company picnic at the Butterfly House in Sioux Falls. The prior summer I had interned with the company but had recently accepted a job offer from Procter & Gamble in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Needless to say, I was less than excited to attend a function at a company I was not coming back to post graduation. Little did I know, it was the best decision I ever made (or was forced to make). At the picnic, I saw my work crush from the prior summer, Carson. He was holding adorable baby Jameson so I obviously went to say hello and try to hold J. He was not a fan of me, so after a few awkward seconds of holding him, Carson and I started discussing our current relationship status’. Long story short, we were both single and ready to mingle, but I was headed back to Colorado for my last year of college and he was living in Sioux Falls. It took a few months, but when I was home over Christmas break, Carson reached out to me (or did I reach out to him?) about grabbing a beer to catch up. The only problem was I hated beer at the time but was not about to give him a reason not to meet up with me! So we met up at Remedy Brewing in Downtown Sioux Falls on December 23rd, 2019 and stayed together talking into the morning, hopping from bar to bar. We spent my whole winter break together, even though Carson set the precedent that “we will reconnect when you are back from college”. That philosophy only lasted about a week when we realized we couldn’t stop thinking about each other! We ended up in Cabo with my parents as our first vacation together. From there we made it official. I met Jameson officially on a visit back home during my last semester, and knew right away this was something special. Though we have had obstacles and hurdles, we persevered knowing we truly loved each other. I cannot wait for the rest of my life with Carson and Jameson. Sioux Falls, here I come!