Justine:   In late 2021, I sat in my boss’s office and proclaimed my desire to move from the small college town I called home for a decade to a larger city with one thing in mind- finding a Nice Jewish Boy. He asked where I wanted to move and my answer was simple; anywhere but Dallas. With every intention of moving to Houston, I attended my cousin’s wedding in February 2022 and struck up a conversation with the only person I knew at the table. She somehow invalidated every reason I gave for not moving back home. Grace also expertly maneuvered a phone number swap between me and the friend she brought as a date. It was a magical evening between the peach bellinis, new heels, and Brian’s flirtatious glances on the dance floor; and I left that night with a newfound sense of confidence. About once a week, this nice Jewish boy and I would text about podcasts and tv shows. I moved back to Dallas that summer, and less than a week later, found myself dating Brian.   Brian is the calm to my storm, respects my innate need for adventure, and enables my passion to own enough animals to open a zoo. He shows me what love is and means on a daily basis and I am thankful he took a chance on this “crazy horse girl” with 6 animals who just moved to Dallas.   The way Brian and I met was legitimately something out of a fairytale. Some would call this fate, but I would call it something different- intention. I made the intentional decision to text this random guy I met the previous night at a wedding. Grace made the intentional decision to make someone she had never spoken to feel welcome and comfortable. Stephi and Zander made the intentional decision to not only give Grace a plus one, but also to seat me with their friends rather than family. 2022 was the year intention, 2023 was the year of adventure, and 2024 is the year of new beginnings and I cannot wait to celebrate it with you.     Brian:    When I met Justine, I left the wedding feeling excited and hopeful, but also nervous, enough that I almost talked myself out of texting her. When she texted me a few days later - to talk about how she started my favorite podcast: a tell-tale sign of true love - I immediately knew that she was someone special. After she told me she was moving to Dallas, I knew I had to ask her out as soon as she moved (a move I still regret waiting on). After a great night of fireworks to celebrate July 4th and Justine’s birthday, I nervously asked Justine on a first date, and soon after, we were dating officially.   A few things about Justine captured me immediately. She is extremely passionate, doesn’t do anything halfway, and lives her life with intention and care, giving time both to herself and others. Combined with her natural beauty, intelligence, devotion, fun, I quickly and hopelessly fell in love. Justine is also an uncommonly emotionally intelligent person, seeing the chessboard of life clearly and perceptively - and she brought this insight into our nascent relationship. After dating for a few months, we were spending all of our time together - I could not get enough of her love and presence, which provided me with a bone-deep wholeness and calmness. It didn’t matter what we were doing – road tripping, movies, family, TV, etc. - I was having the time of my life and, in every moment we were together, falling deeper in love with this incredible woman.   Soon, I was hatching the perfect plan to ask her to marry me. Justine had a few requests for this special moment: it had to be intimate, outdoors, with pets, and she had to look cute. With these in mind, I concocted a fake work Valentine’s Day photo contest. We planned a “photoshoot” at the Arbor Hill Nature Preserve observation deck, but when we got there (after spending hours the night before crafting floral collars for our dogs), instead of coworkers, there was a custom cake and a few friends to capture the moment. Justine saying yes was the happiest moment of my life - I will remember it forever!