Our friend Chris was having a surprise dinner for his Master’s graduation and we both were invited. Little did we know it would be the night that changed our lives for the better. Before the dinner, everyone met up to make sure we were there for the surprise, all close friends of Chris’ over the years. I (Kelley) knew everyone in the room except this one gentleman, Brandon. And Brandon knew everyone in the room except for me. We met, said our hellos and that was the only exchange we had that dinner. Afterwards, we all went out, me and 5 of the guys (including Brandon) to celebrate Chris and his accomplishment. Brandon, that night, asked for my phone and little did I know he would put his phone number in my phone, text himself and start our conversation from there. We texted for a whole week since he lived in San Antonio and I lived in Houston. We made a plan for our first date at Goode Co. Taqueria off Kirby and the rest was history!

Brandon and I did long distance from Houston to San Antonio for the first 2 years of our relationship. I was starting PT school in Houston at TWU and he was in the Army stationed at Fort Sam. We texted, called, and visited as much as we could during the long distance to try and get as much time together. Here is where we learned to cherish the time we had together and appreciate each other more when we got see each other. It was not easy, but it was definitely worth it.

Once I finished my clinical rotation for PT school in San Antonio and made the trek to Houston, Brandon decided to make the transition back to Houston. Despite living in the same city, we still were not living together. We spent the week days apart and the weekends as much together as possible. Cypress and Spring isn't too far apart, but always felt too far when it came to our relationship. We figured, we might as well live together at this point!

Now, we were living together in the same apartment, bought a dog together and things were going smoothly between the two of us. We always talked about marriage, a house, kids, but we weren't sure when that would happen. At this point we had been together for 5 years and both knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Brandon decided to pop the question in private and of course I said "YES!" We decided on a long engagement and finally in 2024 we will be husband and wife.