Jess and I grew up only 15 minutes apart. She was from Como-Pickton and I was from Winnsboro. I graduated two years prior to her but we both chose the same college to go to, Texas A&M University - Commerce. We'd see each other in passing throughout campus and give each other the awkward smirk and head nod whenever we would meet. Both of us had gotten out of relationships and casually started talking. Talking led to going out and dancing together at The Drunken Mule (talk about a fairytale). Actually that is where we discovered we both love to dance with one another, it has continued in our relationship to do this day. I had asked Jess to go out on a date with me and she said yes but I never followed through with my end of the deal to actually take her out. Fast forward four months and I asked her out and she said yes to my surprise. I wasn't going to mess it up this time.

I'm off from work every Thursday and I made it a point to take advantage of her willingness to go out with me. I picked her up and we headed to Landon's Winery in Greenville for dinner. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was the most beautiful person that I had ever seen. After dinner, we went and watched movie; Mocking Jay. That was a total bust in our opinion. I remember looking over at Jess and I'm pretty sure she was sleeping and felt me stare at her, woke up and acted as if she had never dozed off. After the movie, I took her to her apartment, kissed her goodnight, and left. I remember thinking to myself, this girl is amazing and I better not screw this up.

After that date, we were pretty much inseparable. If I had time off, I was doing my best to see her. Whether she was coming to my house or I was coming to see her, we tried to see each other as much as possible. After about six months of dating, both of our leases were up and we had to decide what to do. We had a serious conversation about if we should move in together and see if it works. We did. It was the best decision I had made to that point in my life. To say that we didn't have any ups or downs would be a terrible lie. There was, and still is, a huge learning curve. We are opposite on a lot of things but the exact same on others. I have a HUGE case of OCD and being very neat and needy. Jess is neat but I'm a stickler for things being done my way and if they aren't, I go and fix them whenever there is nothing to be fixed even. I should've learned by now, but I'm incredibly hard-headed.

After about two years of dating, I was ready. I asked Mallory, Jessica's best friend, to take her to a movie to free up some time for me to go and talk to her parents. It was the most nerve racking experience that I have ever had. Not because I was scared, but because I respect her parents more than anything. Not only that, but I was about to ask them if I could have their daughters hand in marriage and spend our lives together. After about an hour and a half of my heart almost beating out of my chest, I left knowing that I was going to get to spend my life with the most amazing person I have ever met. The day was finally here! I had had the proposal planned for six months and it all came down to this. I left extremely early for "work" because I needed to get a head start on the day. I planted a note for Jess in our Christmas tree and called her to check for it. Shortly after, I had Mallory come over and take Jess on a day planned out exactly for her. I wrote fourteen notes for her and the first letter of each of them spelled out "Will You Marry Me". Along the way, I had her mom and grandmothers meet her and go to lunch. I also had my mom, sister, and niece meet her later on while she was getting ready. They were headed to see me. I was waiting at the Dallas Arboretum for her behind this big and beautiful Christmas tree. I actually had forgot the note I was supposed to give her once she saw me and had to run out as she's walking in to get it. I get back to our spot and see her walking up. She looked so gorgeous! After taking off her blindfold, I think I blacked out and somehow muttered the words "Will you marry me?" and she said YES! That was the best day/night of my whole life. On our way back home, I actually had to ask her if I was able to get the words out. She laughed and told me yes. We met up with our families later that night and celebrated our engagement.

We are now closing in on our wedding day, September 1st. This has been the best adventure that I've ever been a part of and I can't wait to see what this life brings us. To everyone that has been a part of our lives over the last three years, we thank you and our lucky to have all of y'all. Hurry up September!