Fate would first bring us together on a two week work trip in Ohio. Following two weeks of work misery, we went our separate ways never to see each other again (or so we thought). A few months later, fate would bring us together again as a work "opportunity" would lead me to work in Memphis, TN on the same job as Catherine. What started as a six month assignment (and is now five years and counting), led to us working closely together for about three years. There were some hints here and there, but Catherine is not one to "color outside the lines," so nothing ever came of any those moments, especially while working together. Fate would intervene again as Catherine was promoted and took on a new role where we didn't work together or see each other daily. It was one of the lowest points of my adult life; at the time I thought that was all professional (or at least mostly, professional), but clearly it was something more. Finally, the cosmos aligned in the form of a Christmas Pub Crawl (Stumbling Santa for those familiar) in December 2017 where Catherine (after not seeing or speaking to her for four months) joined the group. A confluence of factors (I'd like to attribute most of it to my reindeer-onezie) led to me professing my "like" for Catherine and the feeling being reciprocated with one little twist: Catherine was taking another job and would be moving closer to home in Jackson, MS in three months time. Unfazed, I responded, "well I guess we have three months to figure this out." The rest is history with us dating for over a year between Jackson, MS, Memphis, TN, and Charlotte, NC with many stops in between. Our love flourished over our similarities (eerie at some times) as well as the differences that make us better together. We forged our connection over friends, food, travel, experiences, and an overall appreciation of life and all it has to offer.

Months prior to January 25, 2019: According to Austin, he had the “harder” part between the two of us to jump from dating to getting engaged. From asking my dad for his blessing, to picking the one ring out of thousands, and actually proposing, he had the “harder” decisions. In his mind, I had the easy part to just say “yes.” So for a the prior few months, he started making me practice how to say “yes”. Of course, each time the response was “sure”, “sounds good”, “we’ll see” or something nonchalant .. just to not give him the satisfaction of saying “yes”. January 25, 2019: We (my sister, brother-in-law, and me) were coming up to visit Austin in Memphis for the weekend and to go to a Grizzlies game. We came into town and were running late because we had dinner reservations in 30 minutes with family friends. As I frantically ran inside to drop off luggage and freshen up for dinner, he stopped me and said he wanted to give me something. It was a children’s book called “Yes Day” about a little boy who was told “yes” to everything he asked on that day. Austin thought he was going to have to force me to read every page, but I did it without him asking. It was the sweetest thought and book! Of course, I was going to read it! At this point, I still had no idea what was actually happening. On the last page he had written a note and the date January 25, 2019. At that point it started to hit me and when I looked up he was on one knee. It was the sweetest, most precious moment and January 25th became the best night of my life! Needless to say we were late to dinner. However, having my sister (matron of honor), brother-in-law, family friends (and future bridesmaid) at dinner to celebrate was the perfect way to celebrate. Couldn’t have created a more special and perfect night! I’m one lucky girl! Wish July 13 would hurry up. I’m beyond ready to be Mrs. Austin Wright Bradshaw!!