Jessie and I met at a mutual friend's wedding last September. I was a groomsman of my good friend from college, and Jessie was a greeter for the wedding after living with the bride for a few months prior to the wedding. I passed her on the way to taking groomsmen pictures, and I had never laid my eyes on someone so beautiful. Fast-forward to the reception and I was breaking my neck to see her and look for any opportunity to speak to her. We both found our way to the bar, speaking to a mutual friend, and I was trying to find the smoothest words to lead off with. She spoke to me first, and that was the only invitation I needed to spend the next few hours deeply getting to know the beautiful heart and soul behind the beautiful face. I was in adoration of every sweet part of Jessie's life that I got to know. It didn't take long for my focus to change to how to convince this girl to go on a date with me. Finally at 5 am, after hours of getting to know this adventurous, God-loving girl at the after-party, I choked up the courage to ask her to coffee just a few hours later that day. I had to head back to my life in Greenville that next day, so I knew that it was now or never. I spent hours in a random Walmart parking lot, watching the Dallas Cowboys game on my phone, waiting for Jessie to get off work. She said she worked for a Church, so what was not to love? I googled every single coffee shop in Winston-Salem, and they were all closed except for Dough Joe's. A cup of coffee at Dough Joe's turned into a walk along Reynolda Village, where we just dove right into deep conversations. We agreed we didn't want the day to end, so we continued on to dinner and a drink after. All the while, I wanted to pursue Jessie's heart more and more. The perfect 9-hour date ended with a future-defining kiss on her couch, and the rest was history. That day led to an adventurous long-distance relationship, a move to Winston, engagement, and now, we are so excited for forever together.