we’re getting married!

Jaleigh and I first met in 2021 during our second semester as freshman at Baylor University. I’d be lying if I said my initial introduction went smoothly, or that I imagined I'd be marrying her one day. However, I did know that the first time I ever saw her there was going to be two options: I was either going to date or marry her, and I made sure to tell every single one of my friends. I then proceeded to go up to Jaleigh and introduce myself, as the start of an introduction usually goes. After she introduced herself back, I completely lost my train of thought and forgot what to say after my name. I then walked away to avoid any moment of silence that could affect my chances with her. I must have thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself a second time within the first two minutes of ever meeting her. She then responded back with “Didn’t we just meet?” Nailed it. After that event, I felt like there might not be a second time seeing Jaleigh. But at least she knew my name… A week passed by, and I was eager to see Jaleigh again, but had no way of reaching out to her. Must have been due to my poor communication skills from the first time we met. I reached out to one of my buddies who was mutual friends with her and asked if I could have her phone number. He gave it to me, and I immediately texted her asking if she would be able to come to a date event with me for the initiation of my pledge brothers and I. To my surprise, she said yes. I was pumped. We had a great time together, and I had felt like there would be a chance she would want to go on a date in the future. But with the semester ending in just two weeks, timing wasn’t on our side. That summer, Jaleigh went back home to Southlake, and I spent a month working as a counselor at Camp Longhorn. Despite the distance, we texted daily, though we hadn’t quite reached the stage of phone calls or FaceTiming. As summer wrapped up, I knew I wanted to see her before we returned to Baylor for sophomore year. I decided to buy concert tickets to see Parker McCollum with my hometown friends and figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask her to join us. Thankfully, she said yes, and we had an amazing time together at the concert. Things were looking good as we headed back to Baylor. We began spending more time together, gradually going on dates until October 2, 2021, when I officially asked Jaleigh to be my girlfriend. Now, three years later, here we are. After graduating from Baylor in 2024, I knew I wanted to propose to Jaleigh as soon as possible. With the support of both of our families, I was incredibly fortunate to propose to her on July 4, 2024, in New Braunfels, TX.