We’re getting married!!

It all started with two crazy college kids out at the famous Midtown bars of the University of Florida… specifically, Tatu. Christina was out celebrating with some sorority sisters and Cheney was out introducing his parents to his college friends. Christina was dared by her friends to go ask that “random mom in the bar” (Mrs. Cathleen Hedrick: Criminal Prosecutor) to take a shot with her. Seeing as Christina is just a ~smidge~ bit competitive, she completed the dare with zero hesitation. Little did she know that random dare would lead her to her future husband. Even though Mrs. Hedrick turned down the shot, she was kind enough to buy a round for the rowdy sorority group and took interest in talking more with Christina. Eventually, Cheney noticed the conversation and nonchalantly switched over to the fun table. We partied, laughed and created this beautiful foundation called friendship. Neither of us knew it at the time that God would eventually call us to be more than friends. 2 years went by, video messaging was the primary source of communication with a sprinkle of friend dates here and there. It didn’t all click until Christina butt-dialed Cheney during her trip to Greece. Even though it was an accident, Christina needed some boy advice anyway and who better to ask then her awesome friend Cheney. The two hour conversation left Christina thinking a lot about Cheney and how maybe he had just been hiding in plain sight this whole time. She did something she never thought she would do and that was: be the one to reach out first. She called her friends for moral support before sending THE text to Cheney, or should we say novel. It was at this moment that Christina was friend zoned for about 1 night, and then Cheney came to his senses the next morning. They talked all throughout her trip to Greece and then made plans for when Christina was back home. Cheney was so generous and offered to move Christina out of her townhouse in Gainesville. Christina drove up to Tampa with butterflies and nerves all in her stomach since this was going to be the first encounter once feelings had been established.. AH! On July 12th, Cheney asked Christina to be his first girlfriend and Christina said yes to being a girlfriend for the first time.. what a whirlwind it was and has been since then, in the best ways possible.

The day started with a casual 3 am drive to the Florence Airport. Cheney, Christina and a handful of her close friends were on their way to the last (but certainly not least) stop of their Europe trip: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The day was running smoothly until the rental car was delayed 2 hours, which caused a bit of stress to meet the photographer in time. Everyone was a little on edge, while clueless Christina was just taking it all in, enjoying each moment. We finally made it to the train and we were supposed to follow the photographer off the train, however, God had other plans. As we were all about to get off, people wouldn’t move, the train doors malfunctioned and the train started moving, bringing all of us further away from the photographer and proposal spot. The group tried to shove through and rush off the train while Christina sat, relaxed in her seat, without a worry in the world, wondering why everyone was freaking out about missing the stop. The mishap ended up being a blessing because the group got to walk down a gorgeous hike to the proposal spot. As everyone was walking, Christina passed by an old man taking what she thought were “landscape portraits” of the scenery. Little did she she know, just a few steps later, she would be asked to answer the easiest question. Funny thing is, despite Cheney not being able to keep most secrets, he knocked this one out of the park. Christina was absolutely flabbergasted and thought he was joking, as she was so sure he was going to propose a bit later in the year. It’s safe to say Christina was in shock so, it took her a minute (or maybe a few) to give him his yes. The best part is that Cheney was “supposed” to walk Christina into the photographers camera lens and propose there but, he felt that was too staged. The photographer made Cheney do another “fake proposal” with the beautiful landscape in the back for pictures but, Christina loved that Cheney did it right where he wanted (even if it was next to a cute little bench with a cute little trash can) and it meant the world to her. Sure, Christina wasn’t prepared, had overgrown nails, air-dried hair and did 5 minute car makeup but, the one thing she was prepared for was to commit herself to Cheney that day.