My parents (Simmonds') moved into our lake house at Lake LBJ in 2017, just 4 doors down from The Hermanson's family lake house. We met in the middle of April 2018, around Easter Weekend. AJ's family went on a walk one day, and we met right outside our house after we waved good bye to our grandparents. The Hermanson's came right up to us and were super friendly. Instantly I thought he was very charming, but he was walking with his sister & her precious baby! So of course, I thought they were married. A month went by, and we were all out at our lake houses for Memorial Day Weekend. Mrs. Hermanson came over and asked if we wanted to play volleyball - we said of course & that day was our first spark! Months went by, and we finally connected again when the lake overflowed. From then on, we started dating & the rest was history, really. I fell in love with the Lake Boy Next Door.

We met in the middle of April 2018, around Easter Weekend. We met when my parents, and my sister Kristen and her daughter, went on a walk. Long story short, it didn't go well, Jess thought me and my sister were boyfriend/girlfriend, and I thought Jess' brother who was there, was her boyfriend. Fast forward a month, and just to note, my mom is farsighted, and can't see a thing up close, but if you put a cute girl a couple houses down, she'll find her, and that's what she did. I was trying to enjoy my lunch on our balcony, and my mom was pestering me to go invite the new girl next door to come over and play volleyball with us. I was nervous to make the first move, but I played the nonchalant card, and just said 'yeah, maybe later'. To my disbelief, just two bites into my sandwich, my mom successfully transported from our kitchen to our neighbors yard, and there she was power walking on a mission, headed to the cute girl's house. Jess ended up coming over to play, and although we were on different teams, I was in awe of her and just could not stop flirting with this girl, and to this day, I still can't stop.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, AJ's family rented out a condo at Horseshoe Bay Resort to celebrate the holiday and his birthday weekend. Jess didn't think anything of it - just a fun family weekend. Little did she know, AJ had a trick up his sleeve. Upon arrival, AJ asked Jess to come help him grab some food that his brother-in-law brought home. Jess didn't want to go because it was terribly hot outside, and her family had just arrived at the condo. However, AJ convinced her to spend some one-on-one time together. Once they got downstairs, his brother-in-law called AJ to let him know he was late. Jess was frazzled, but AJ suggested they go down to the dock to kill some time. The original plan was for AJ to get Jess to turnaround for a picture, and when she turned back around, AJ would be on one knee. As they were walking, AJ told Jess he wanted to take a photo of her because the scenery was perfect. Jess immediately said yes and started posing like it was a photoshoot. Jess kept turning her head posing for the pictures. She wouldn't stay still as AJ hoped. AJ also spent what felt like an eternity trying to get the ring out of his pocket; it seemed as if someone had glued the ring box inside of his pocket. At one point, Jess turned around and noticed AJ had one hand in his front pocket (putting his phone up), and one hand in his back pocket (trying to grab the ring). Jess was confused, and asked AJ what he was doing. AJ told Jess that she needed to stay turned around until he said otherwise. Then everything stopped. She had finally put everything together, and the tears began to stream down her face. AJ told her to turn around, and he was down on one knee, with the most beautiful ring shining back at her. After Jess said yes, both families came out with balloons and her favorite champagne to celebrate. Little did she know this most perfect day that AJ had been planning for months, was just the beginning of all her dreams coming true.