We got married! (now time to party)

It all began at Betenbough Homes. It was Abrian's first day as a detail tech intern and I was the HR Coordinator who presented Abrian's onboarding presentation (company policies/paperwork). We both liked each other from the start, but unfortunately, he didn't think he had a chance and I thought it was inappropriate to make a move on a coworker. So we had to crush on each other from a distance for a while, but fate would bring us back together a year later.

I was currently living in Amarillo, TX due to relocation with my job, and Abrian was living in Lubbock, TX. Abrian had just graduated college and had the courage to send me a SnapChat in his cap and gown. I was impressed and bewitched by his good looks so I decided to respond back to him to give him my congratulations. SnapChatting led to texting, texting turned into a 4-hour FaceTime date, and the FaceTime date turned into Abrian making the cross-country trip to Amarillo to take me on our first real date. Our first date was dinner at Torchy's Tacos that followed with a movie at Cinemark. We saw the Pikachu movie because I had already promised a good friend that I would babysit her son that night. So Abrian and I had a 3rd wheel after dinner to make sure we kept things PG. That was the first night he held my hand. I knew that day that Abrian was something special and that I had to look forward to in our future together. In July of 2019, the Lord opened a door for me to move back to Lubbock which made my heart much happier to be in the same city as my tall, dark, and handsome boyfriend. We continued dating and figuring out life together where we quickly realized we didn't ever want to spend it apart. Abrian was the first to low-key say "I love you." It was like one of those awkward moments where I knew he was trying to say it, but the words just couldn't come out of his mouth, so I finished the sentence with "I love you too." His response, "Uhh yeah, I love you." lolol.

Abrian and I had both made the decision to be baptized. We were both baptized as infants and felt in our spirit that it was time to recommit our hearts and lives to our Savior. Abrian and I had already been discussing marriage openly with each other and our families for a while, so I figured the proposal was going to be coming soon. Abrian did his best to keep his plans a secret, but little did he know he was about to marry a private investigator. I was able to "read between the lines" during our conversation about the baptism which gave me a hunch he was planning the proposal for the same day. And sure enough, he did. We were baptized at Broadway Church of Chris (the church Abrian grew up in), surrounded by our immediate family and pastor's family. When we cleaned up and made our way towards our family, Abrian turns to me and says, "My mom has a gift for you." I awkwardly walk toward one of the church pews to grab the gift and to be honest I don't remember if I opened it right then... because next thing you know, Abrian says, "Actually I have a gift for you too. Since we just committed our lives to Christ together, I want to commit my life to you. Will you marry me." I'm honestly not sure if a definite "yes" came out of my lips, but I definitely nodded with a bunch of "uh-huhs." It was so sweet to have that precious moment with him in front of our family, but a little awkward too because I had never kissed him in front of my parents until that day. ;)

Our date was set for May 30, 2020. Little did we know we’d be changing our plans 23,939,408 more times. When we realized what uncertainty the world was about to face, we made the tough decision to postpone the wedding festivities. We had high hopes that by December 2020 we would have better chances at celebrating. With the mindset that we had no idea of what was to come, we decided to take a leap of faith and elope!