Truth is Connor and I met on Match.com. My profile mentioned sewing as a hobby. Connor messaged me hello and that his mom had sewn her own wedding dress. He got a message back for actually reading what I wrote instead of a "hey girl how r u still single" and sharing a super cool story. We met at Barley Mow Brewing Company to make sure the other person wasn't crazy. It was instant chemistry. I want to say we talked for about 3 hours straight that first night. Skip ahead several dates and it was time to Meet The Parents. Connor and I joined his parents and his Uncle Greg and Aunt Suze who were down visiting for dinner at Ozona Blue. All is fine and dandy until Suze asks me how we met. I say online and the rest of the table goes dead silent mid conversation. Turns out Connor had told his parents a bar. Technically true. Just not the full story. He got a dirty look for the lack of heads up, then we laughed and the awkwardness disappeared. Mr. Baird informed me he was supposed to be on his best behavior per Connor's request. So way less ribbing than I would expect now. Overall a great introduction to his awesome family.

Connor is a champ. No way around it. Three months after meeting, he was my plus one at Anna and Jason's wedding. As a bridesmaid I was super busy and not even at my parent's house when he arrived. Luckily he had met my immediate family previously when they visited for Easter. Everyone else besides my dad had left the house already as it was wedding day. Connor offered to help out. My dad took him at his word and put him in charge of mowing the lawn. My dad then left to bring the bars to the reception. Let's stop to paint the scene. It's June in Florida and stupid hot. Connor was therefore shirtless, mowing the front lawn with no one else home. Few people knew we are even dating at this point as it was so new. Cue my Grandpa Regan, Uncle Tom, and cousin Sam pulling into the driveway. Connor walked over and introduced himself. Totally normal on his side. My extended family was confused. They couldn't figure out why the sweaty lawn service guy was acting super familiar with them. The misunderstanding was cleared up and they bonded over fishing. Sometimes I think Connor is more of a Regan than I am. I received tons of compliments at Anna's wedding of how friendly he was with all our friends and family. Not much of a surprise as Connor could strike up a conversation with a rock. A skill that serves him well as a realtor today. And that is the story of how I threw Connor to the wolves and he came back leading the pack.

I knew Connor was my person pretty early on in our relationship. It took Connor a little bit longer to accept the fact that he is stuck with me until death do us part. I promise he is happy about it though. We looked at rings once together, and he asked **if** he were to propose is there anything that was important to me. My request was for my sisters to be there. Both Sarah and I were present when Jason proposed to Anna, and it was really awesome to be a part of that. Thanksgiving 2018 was fast approaching, and my parents would be in Iowa for my Grandma Regan's 80th birthday. In an attempt to have some of my family around I invited Anna, Jason, Kovu, and Sarah to visit. Sarah didn't plan on coming as a flight from Texas for only a couple days was expensive. Unbeknownst to me, a certain someone told her it would be a really good weekend to visit and she was in for the trip. Connor and I enjoy island camping especially when we can bring people with us. Everyone decided to go that Friday night and the weather was perfect for it. We were all set up and cooking grilled cheese over the fire using fried pie irons. I'm watching the sun set as mine cooked when all of the sudden Connor grabbed my hands and pulled me over. He muttered something about sharp rocks and then got down on one knee. I was smiling like crazy at that point. Connor asked me to marry him and obviously I said yes! It was perfect. I did have to make a new dinner as my poor grilled cheese was a charcoal brick by the time we stopped celebrating. A small sacrifice though :) The evening ended with a firework show by the Kochenours, family friends of the Bairds. They live on the water close to the island where we were camping. It was pretty neat knowing the fireworks were just for us!