In October 2009 I was sitting in a crowded cafeteria with my fellow choir friends, all waiting for our turn to audition for the region choir. I've always been shy, so I kept mostly to myself. Fast forward 6 years to 2015 and I'm dropping my baby brother off at UTSA for their All-State choir camp. Klint was far more talented than I ever was and I knew he was going to go far. When we dropped him off, we were greeted by his counselor who happened to also be his teacher at his high school for the upcoming year. This guy was so sweet, so caring, and so so cute. His name tag read "Kra" and all I heard about while Klint was at camp was how awesome "Kra" was. Eventually I learned Kra's real name - Keith - and I got to spend more and more time with him as the years went on and he pushed Klint (and all of his other students) to reach his full potential. Eventually, after several years of flirting and hinting, I FINALLY got him. It was so easy and comfortable from the very start (I even fell asleep in the car on our first date, a fact Keith doesn't let me forget.) I thought our story started in 2015 when I saw him at Klint's choir camp, but in reality, I was sitting in a crowded cafeteria with my soulmate in 2009. We just didn't know it yet.

Finding your “person” is a journey that takes time, effort, and a whole lot of patience. When I first met Kealey she was a volunteer for the booster club at Marshall HS where I was working at the time. She would always show up to help at every event and would stay behind until all the kids were picked up. During her third year in the booster club I remember talking to a close friend of mine and telling him that I thought this girl was stunning but I didn’t know if I should pursue anything because I was teaching her little brother. As the month goes on Kealey and I would spend every hour that I’m free talking and flirting. I decide to ask her out and take her on a day trip to Fredericksburg. I remember feeling my heart beating like it never had before as I drove to pick her up, and to this day I still get that same feeling when we have a date night or Kealey walks into the house after work. After our date I took Kealey home and felt absolutely terrible. I just had the best date of my entire life, but I didn’t know what to do moving forward since her younger brother was still my student. After a lot of thinking and praying I knew that I had to ask Kealey out before she got away. I had never felt like this before! Since that day there has been more love than I knew could exist, more laughing than I thought I could handle, and more joy than I thought was possible to have in one life. I am so grateful that Kealey gave me that one chance three years ago, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with this beautiful woman.

When I sat down to plan my proposal I knew that I wanted to do something big. I spent some time looking up some local hotels in the area for a little "staycation" that I told Kealey we were going to go on. After reading a bunch of reviews and asking around I decided that the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa was the perfect place to pop the question. The weekend before our getaway I enlisted the help of our friends Victoria and Colin to help me scope the place out and make a game plan for how I wanted to propose. I decided to set up two different events on the day of our proposal. Victoria helped me make a secret Facebook group where I invited all of our close friends to celebrate with us, while I text all of the parents involved to get the big moment put together. I had a feeling that Kealey felt that the proposal would happen so I had to fake her out... During our first night there I made reservations at their fanciest restaurant. We got dressed up, had a great dinner, and then walked around the grounds and looked at all the lights. No proposal. I knew I threw her for a loop. The following day we woke up and I told Kealey I wanted to walk around some more before we went to lunch. As we took the elevator downstairs I could feel the ring box in my pocket getting bigger and bigger. We walked outside and I took her to the huge Christmas tree. Our parents popped out from the other side and I got down on one knee and asked the big question! Later that night I told Kealey that I wanted to go to the sports bar and watch some games while we had a drink. Little did she know, about 20 of our closest friends were there waiting to congratulate us! I even had Victoria get a sign made that read "YOU ARE ENGAGED." as a tribute to The Office. That weekend couldn't have been accomplished without all the help of our parents and friends. You all helped to make the proposal more than I could have dreamed it to be!