Chelso & Kortnie met while playing collegiate golf at Texas Christian University. They were introduced by teammates at a social gathering and shortly after found themselves "studying & practicing golf" as Chelso would put it... little did Kortnie know, Chelso was luring her in.

Chelso invited Kortnie to a Dallas Stars hockey game. Midway through the game, they treated themselves to an ice cream cookie sandwich. Kortnie took the first bite, and to her dismay it was a rock hard cookie. Chelso took the second bite and almost spit it out... not the cookie, but Kortnie's tooth that had chipped off from the first bite!! What a way to begin our journey.

As Kortnie began her career in coaching and Chelso finished his degree, the two spent several years dating long distance. Chelso remained in Fort Worth and then transitioned to playing golf professionally on the Canadian Tour, while Kortnie relocated to Statesboro, Georgia as a graduate assistant and then coached one year at Long Beach State. Throughout this time, we relied on phone conversations and the occasional weekend visits. On a positive note, we were both able to individually develop our foundation in Christ - learning that a relationship with the Lord comes before any thing our relationship could offer.

We never would have guessed that God would have written Mississippi into our story, but His ways are FAR greater than ours! Kortnie relocated to Starkville, MS after taking the assistant coach job at Mississippi State. Chelso followed shortly after and has developed roots working as a golf professional at the MSU Golf Course. After 3 years of long distance, we were thankful to be able to do the simple things together like cook, go on dates and plug into a local church.

Chelso and Kortnie had made plans for their usual weekly coffee date at 929 coffee house. When Kortnie arrived, Chelso was nowhere to be found, but she found her usual iced vanilla latte sitting on the counter with the following note: "Meet me at the First Baptist Chapel. Enjoy your coffee!" Kortnie walked a block down to the church to find Chelso awaiting her on the steps. Before she could say anything, Chelso got down on one knee! Photo credits go to the Starkville Police Department who discretely took photos from across the street!