We both grew up in Raleigh and had many mutual friends but we didn't formally meet until the summer after our freshman year of college when we were at a friends house while both home from school. We had a quick summer fling and then went our separate ways when it was time to go back to school in August. I headed back to Clemson and Staats was busy with basketball, although we made sure to see each other at every opportunity we could. Staats always gave me basketball tickets when NC State would play Clemson, and between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks we would see each other every couple months. Every time we did see each other there was no denying there was always a little something there.

Fast forward through college... Staats had spent a year in Ireland playing basketball and taking some classes. I was living here in Raleigh working as an ICU nurse at Duke. When he got back we had been in communication on and off for a year and then in September he finally gained up the nerve to ask me on a proper date. By November we were "going steady" as my parents would say.

What was the happiest day of my life? Easy – August 11th, 2018 – the day I proposed to Haley. What was the most nervous moment of my life? Easy – 2pm to 4pm on August 11th, 2018 – the two hours pacing back and forth in Haley’s kitchen waiting for her to come home so that I could propose. While August 11th is the day I officially got down on one knee, I wrote out what I was going to say to her on my phone in the Notes section dated March 30th but I had been thinking about what I would say to her since the day I met her. All that time thinking and practicing what I would say but when the moment finally came, I have no idea what I actually said. I just know she said “yes” and it was the sweetest sound I have ever heard. I looped in my sister Cameron for how I should execute the proposal and she volunteered to use her baby shower as a distraction. Cameron picked Haley up for the shower and texted me the go ahead that the house was clear. I snuck into Haley’s house and set up in her kitchen a few candles and a poster I made that had pictures of us spelled out into the words “Marry me?” I anxiously waited for Cameron to shoot me the “On the way back!” text and then when Haley walked through the front door, I proposed. Our families were parked down the street and came in with champagne to celebrate once we gave them the word. We went to dinner at one of Haley’s favorite restaurants, Winston’s Grille, and it was an amazing night seeing our families come together. Soon my answer to “what was the happiest day of my life?” will change and I will say with a big smile on my face “Easy - September 21st, 2019 - the day I married Haley.”