Kyle found my dating profile and sent me "hello, hope you're having a great week" with some sun emojis. There, the message sat for a few days (Kyle says weeks, but I can assure you it was only a few days!) After going back through some of messages and realizing I never replied, I looked through his profile and wrote back. This was on a Sunday. After connecting and texting through the app for a while, we exchanged numbers and spoke on the phone. We ended up staying on the phone for 4 hours that night and by the end, it felt like we had known each other forever. Somewhere during that call, we planned our first date that next Saturday (felt like forever away), but we made it through the week with calls every night. We spoke on the phone for 11 hours that week, leading up to the date. Admittedly, Kyle carried the conversations a bit more - he has so many interesting stories and it gave me a lot of insight into who he was. What he didn't know at the time was that through those 11 hours he slowly but surely was checking off every box on my list. Yes.. an actual list. After my previous dating experience, I decided to write a list of what I would ideally want in a partner and future husband. They were very specific.. from things they value, specific parenting style they agree with, hobbies and activities they enjoyed, character traits, love language, etc. When writing it out, I just remember thinking that I would likely have to compromise on some of the things, especially the things that were just preferences and not character traits and so it was probably silly to be so specific. As he was telling me stories and situations and how he handled it, his part in the story, or just his commentary, I realized he was pretty much checking off every box. The last box left unchecked was "likes to cook" and as I was thinking about that, he mentioned something about cooking. To say the least, he had a lot to live up to in person but I'm lucky to say he really is all that and more! <3

Well what can I add to this. When we started talking on the phone, it seemed like I already knew her. I felt like a teenage girl. It felt like I talked her ear off. The first date seemed like forever away but it was worth the wait. I wanted it to be special and a day we would not forget. It was the best first date ever. First we went and got tacos at a place neither of us had been. Can't go wrong with tacos. Then, I took her to the beautiful botanical garden in Zilker park. It wasn't spring time, but it was still amazing. We talked and explored and enjoyed each others company, took our first photos together (my prompting), and kissed a lot. Actually, within the first minute of meeting in person we hugged and then kissed and it felt meant to be and we were instantly comfortable with each other. I think we were both nervous at first, hoping it would be as great in person as it was through the phone. It was. After the botanical garden, I took her to my favorite shaved ice spot and acted like tourists downtown. Then we went to auditorium shores, walked around lady bird lake a bit, took photos with the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue and stayed to watch the bats fly out from the South Congress bridge. I did not want that date to end. Chelsea is forever my gift from God. I'm the luckiest man in the world to be marrying her.