celebrate with us!

WHERE WE STARTED Chase came to SFA in 7th grade where I knew of him but we weren't in close circles. As we got into high school, Chase and I maybe had a couple of classes, but still weren't really in the same circles. Junior year of high school (2016), Chase was escorting my best friend, Nicole, on the homecoming court. (Shoutout to Nicole for getting us there and to Will for being best friends with Chase). We spent the night talking and giggling. About a week later, Chase added me on Snapchat, and we haven't stopped talking since then. He kept asking me out and I wasn't sure I was going to go on a date with him. He finally got me to say yes. Chase came to pick me up in his jacked-up, black truck with the light bar on top. My dad thought this was funny because I despised these trucks. I said I would never date anyone with one of THOSE trucks. Yet, here I was. Anyways, Chase took me bowling where I kicked his butt the first game. (He did win the second game but that is irrelevant.) Then we went to good ole Chili's for dinner. It was perfect. I still remember what he was wearing on our first date. He had on a green vineyard vines shirt with khaki shorts and Cole Haans. I soon learned this was his staple outfit. After our third date, he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. 11-05-2016 WHERE WE ARE NOW We both came to UAB for college. Chase graduated in December 2021 with his bachelors in accounting. He is currently studying to get his CPA license. He is at Warren Averett as an associate. I graduated at the end of April 2022 with my bachelors in elementary education. I am a kindergarten teacher in the Birmingham area. THE PROPOSAL 4-2-2022 One random weekend at the beginning of April, we went home to Memphis to visit family. I was told we were doing a nice dinner at Shelby Farms, and we would take family pictures before since everyone was together. Not an unusual thing from my mom when we were all together. We were standing by the lake outside the restaurant, taking pictures. Chase started to go down on one knee and reach. I thought he was joking! I SWATTED his arm away because he has made jokes like this before. Little did I know he was going to keep going and ask me to marry him. It caught me completely off guard and it was perfect. -Katherine