We're Getting Married!

TITLE PAGE - DATING Our first date was on the Sunday of memorial day weekend, 2024. After connecting online and not talking for weeks, we both weren't sure how serious each other were. Luke drove back from Austin that day and both of us were tan after a weekend on the water with our friends. We met for light bites in Irving and ended up going to a second place to watch the Mavericks on their playoff run and continue chatting. After that we went on a walk, for what seemed like miles, and called it a night. We knew we wanted to see each other again! When we got back to our cars and left, we both ended up paying $40 parking tickets as we didn't know about the special event going on at Toyota Music Factory... Oops. Even after those parking fees, we met for lunch the next day and the rest is history! CHAPTER 1 - ENGAGEMENT What a beautiful day it was. We started off celebrating with Emily & Jackson at Leo's 1st Birthday party. Katrina's girlfriends had to convince her to dress up more than planned because she had no clue what the day had in store. Karissa coerced her to get her nails done and she came home telling me that Karissa was nagging her about being ready for an engagement that you were convinced wouldn't happen for at least 3 more months. Surprise! After Leo's Birthday, we started our 'Beltline Bonanza' at Local Jonny's coffee shop in Addison. We had to stop pretty early on to fill up the tank. We took your Toyota Corolla because I was worried you would see text messages pop up in my truck if we took that. I'm happy with my choice. You made a fun bingo card to keep us entertained on the drive as we marked things off such as '5 Starbucks, a carwash, a lawyer billboard, construction zone', and so forth. We also started counting stoplights, but gave up after about 50 of them! We zoomed through the first quarter of the loop, heading clock-wise through Addison, Richardson, Garland, and Mesquite and then hit a detour on the far SouthEast side. This took us ooff path for about 15 mins and is when I started getting nervous that we wouldn't hit the proposal spot on time (the goal was 4:00pm). I was in the driver's seat and back on track at I-35 on the far South side of the loop We breezed through Lancaster and Desoto before getting to our lunch stop in Cedar Hill - Sam's Pizza & Pasta. Neither of us were that hungry and I secretly convinced you to make it a quick stop so we could stay on schedule. We got slices of pizza and rehydrated before finishing out the 92 mile loop. At this point it was 3:15pm and Justin was convinced we were not going to make it by sundown. I was starting to feel the nerves. You took the wheel and had the final stretch to go (probably 30 miles or so). Luckily, we hit no traffic at all and the stoplights stayed green for us. We whipped ahead through Grand Prairie, Irving, Coppell, and into Carrollton as we neared the end. Since I was in the passenger seat, I was able to keep Justin and the photographer updated on our arrival time. I had already made it a point that I wanted to take a walk afterwards since we had been in the car all day. You agreed as I knew you would, but asked why we wouldn't just go to Addison Circle since it was technically on Beltline. You also asked if we wanted to wait until we could go home and take Sky with us! Both valid questions, but I had to get you to Vitruvian Park where the proposal was set up - and thankfully you obliged after a little more pushing. We made it at 4:45pm, walked off the path into the woods and there it was - you saw the rug and flowers. I don't think I've ever smiled as much as I did in that hour. Post-proposal, we went to Nordstroms to get you a new dress and shoes for the party that night which culminated with our family and friends celebrating at the rooftop of the Canopy Hotel in Dallas. What a beautiful day it was. CHAPTER 2 - MARRIAGE (COMING SOON!) We are so excited that you will be part of this chapter!