Our story is one of realizations and opportunities. One of our most recent realizations was that our paths probably first crossed back in the early 2000s when our families both attended First United Methodist church in Fort Worth. Hayley and I met in proper sometime in high school – neither of us really knows the exact date. We had mutual friends and there were quite a few events and hangouts where we ran into each other. I was intrigued by the cool girl from another school. We eventually realized that we shared a love for music and had similar senses of humor. We were just friends throughout high school. I went to Texas A&M and Hayley went to Alabama and later LSU. Luckily, we had friends at each other’s schools, so we crossed paths at game days, parties, and most importantly, Chilifest. At some point, I realized that I had a crush on her. However, the right opportunity to really pursue her didn’t present itself. After college, I started my career in Houston and Hayley started teaching in Fort Worth. We began building our lives in different cities, but we stayed connected through the chaos of early careers, never drifting too far from each other. Fast forward to early 2022. Hayley had found her calling in the retail industry and was working for corporate Neiman Marcus in Dallas. Both my job and my music side hustle (shoutout Work in Progress) brought me to Dallas a couple times a month. It was during these trips to Dallas that Hayley and I started to run into each other again. Every time I got the opportunity to see her was the highlight of my day. We would text and send our favorite songs to each other. I knew I for sure had a major crush on her and I had a feeling she maybe liked me back. Eventually, after some fairly obvious hints dropped by Hayley and several of our friends encouraging me to make a move, I finally realized that we in fact had a mutual crush on each other. I asked her out on a real date, which I guess went well because I was eventually able to trick her into dating me long distance. That summer, I realized that I was very much in love and that I needed to take action. In the fall, when the opportunity presented itself, I loaded up a U-Haul truck, moved to Dallas, and asked her to be my girlfriend. On April 20, 2025, I took Hayley to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens and asked her to be my wife. Realizations and opportunities. (And yes, I asked Smalls for permission to marry his mom)