We're going to the lake shore and we're gonna get married!

Katie was living at home for a brief period while attending college and enjoying the single life. Shelly's boyfriend, Joe, at the time worked for a truck driving company that made frequent stops at Owens & Minor, which is where Chase works. Joe got to know Chase and they became great friends. Joe made the suggestion that he should invite Chase up for a bonfire because he thought Katie would really like him. Shelly said, "No! That's not what she needs in her life right now!" Joe bragged about how good of a guy Chase is. He said he is a dedicated and hard worker, friendly and funny, dresses nice, has great hair and is good looking too! In the meantime, Joe talked to Chase and showed him a picture of Katie and Chase agreed to come up. Katie agreed as well. The date was set. When Chase walked through the door with his big blue eyes, perfect hair cut, and a bottle of Booker's whiskey Katie's heart skipped a beat... or two, or three. She was smitten not only by his beautiful eyes and expensive whiskey, but by his witty charm and personality. It was love at first sight. They clicked right away. After that night Chase texted or called Katie every single day. After a couple months they declared themselves an official couple, and still not a day has went by since then where they haven't talked.

Katie and Chase went to Shelly's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family. They had dinner and exchanged gifts and visited for awhile and then went home. Once they were home, Chase surprised Katie with another gift and she said, "What's this? We already exchanged gifts." Chase smiled and told her to open it. Inside was a couple smaller gifts and he told her which one to open first. She opened it. It was a waterproof camping case. She thought it was kind of odd because they each had one already. But she said thank you, put it down, and reached for the other gift. He said, "Wait!! You have to open that first!" She was honestly thinking there was going to be fishing tackle or something like that inside. She opened it up and there was a small black jewelry box. Katie looked at Chase with wondering eyes, opened the box, and there it was! The exact ring that she had casually pointed out to him a month or two prior when they were relaxing on the couch looking through Christmas ads in the paper. She looked at him, looked at the ring, looked at him, looked at the ring... looked back at him and waited. But he didn't say anything! She finally asked, "So... ?" He replied, "So, what?" She asked impatiently, "So, what is this?" He said, "It's the one you wanted, right?" She was getting even more impatient. "Yes, it's the one I wanted! But what does it mean?!" "It can mean whatever you want it to mean," he said. Katie knew in her heart what she wanted it to mean. She put the ring on her left ring finger and wore it every day. And there it is, folks. Part one.

Chase and Katie bought their first house and closed on Wednesday October 17th, 2018. They moved in the following weekend with the help of family. On one of the first days they were able to relax alone together in their new home, something special and long overdue happened. Chase and Katie were standing in the kitchen leaning against the sink and just looking around enjoying what they had worked so hard for. Then, a song came on the radio... This Is It, by Scotty McCreary. "This is it, this is now, this is what I've been talking about Looking out, can't you see forever? Take my hand, just take it in This is a moment we won't forget On top of the world, here, together If there ever was a time for a perfect kiss, this is it" Katie took Chase's hand and then leaned over for a kiss. "Girl I know that you've been waiting and talking to your friends Wondering if and wondering where and wondering when Well I've been waiting too, holding on to this ring For the right words to say, for the right time and place, for me to get on one knee..." With tears in his eyes Chase asked Katie, "Will you marry me?" Katie cried for joy, hugged him tight, and said, "Finally! Yes!!" It might have taken almost a year for Chase to work up the words, but he did it. He popped the question. Better late than never!