We originally matched on Hinge in March 2022 while Stephen was in College Station for Texas A&M's TEEX fire school training through his job. Fun fact: Stephen accidentally swiped left on Kylie. Shout out to Hinge for the undo feature... that was close. Kylie quickly realized he lived 2 hours away in League City and so unfortunately didn't take him very seriously. We communicated on and off for the next 6 months until Kylie finally agreed to meet him in a neutral location in Bastrop, TX while we were both traveling near the area. Our first date was at a vegetarian restaurant - the beginning of the many faux meat experimentations for Stephen that he did not ask for. The next 2 months flew by. We each thought the other person was too good to be true and patiently waited for the red flags, but none ever appeared. Somewhere in between the long distance drives back and forth, the winery visits, and the gym dates, we fell in love with each other. Stephen caught Kylie off guard one night on a date when he told her that he loved her, to which she responded "So does that mean you would like to officially be my boyfriend?" We got a house together in League City 8 months later and have enjoyed traveling to new places, going on gym dates, meeting each other's friends, making new friends, learning how to become boaters, attempting skiing and snowboarding, golfing, trying just about every vegan restaurant within a 100 mile radius, working on new home projects, and spending time with our beloved pit-bull mix, Zeda. Stephen proposed in June 2024 while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. We are beyond excited to start this next chapter of our lives together and celebrate with all of our family and friends!