Our love story began at a small dinner party in Dallas. We were both invited a day or so before by separate friends, and never in a million years knew what God had in store for us. Collier’s heart was struck the moment he saw Kara walk in. With 12 people seated at the dinner table, we sat across from one another and briefly chatted before exchanging phone numbers at the end of the evening. We set our first date for the following Tuesday and talked the night away at a restaurant that just so happened to be right next door to the church that Collier’s great grandfather built in Downtown Dallas.

After a few months of long distance dating, COVID-19 brought the world to a screeching halt in March. With a leap of faith, Kara took the next flight out of Dallas to LA thinking it would only be “two weeks to flatten the curve.” Those two weeks turned into the most incredible 75 days of our lives. We laughed, hiked, doomsday grocery shopped, played monopoly, had date nights, prayed, and fell head over heels in love. We both needed to get back Dallas in June, and instead of flying, we decided to take our quarantine on the road, in an RV that looked like an ice cream truck. We laughed our way through 8 states, 6 national parks, and more than a few bottles of wine. We adventured through Zion, Bryce Canyon, Moab, Dead Horse State Park,the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Garden of the Gods, Cadillac Ranch, and the Wichita wildlife reserve before driving into Dallas. After a few days of work, family time and still no end of COVID quarantine in sight, we weren’t ready for the journey to end, and decided to take the RV back to LA. We stopped at two more national parks on the way back, the Petrified Forest and the magnificent Grand Canyon. 20 of the most adventurous and beautiful days of our relationship were spent in that RV, and we highly recommend to anyone looking to hit the road and see the country!

Collier arranged for a zoom magic show in his backyard to kick off Kara's birthday weekend. For the final trick, the magician acted like he was flying a drone that was actually being controlled by Collier's friend inside the house. The ring was flown in with precision out over the ocean and brought in seamlessly right above our heads. Collier unhooked the bag from the drone and began his proposal. With tears of joy in her eyes, Kara said, “YES!” It was the most perfect day.