Listen, I was smooth when I first met Madison. We were first introduced while I was working at a camp back home in Kansas after my freshman year at the University of Kansas. I worked there with my childhood friend who was roommates with Madison at Liberty University. I spent all summer hearing stories about Liberty and Madison, before I even knew who she was. Towards the end of the summer, I did something completely on brand and revved a utility cart straight into a trashcan, knocking trash everywhere. In the midst of picking up my failures, my friend sent around a video of me doing so. She got a reply from Madison. So now she knows me as the goofy guy picking up trash. Of course I had to steal the phone and reply back and secure my pride - which made her laugh. Later that night, I got to thinking and to doing some Instagram stalking. I found Madison's Instagram and was in SHOCK. Wow she was beautiful. So I did what any smooth charmer would do and I slid into those DMs. Before we knew it, we were snapchatting every day, then texting. Then we began facetiming every night. The summer had died down and we were back in school. After over a month of facetime and truly getting to know her, I knew I didn't want this to be a small, virtual stint. So, I asked her to be my girlfriend...over facetime. It sounds weird but I was the happiest guy alive. It didn't take me long after that to spend what little money I had to buy plane tickets to visit over Christmas break. Seeing Madison for the first time in person was like a dream. Speed walking up to her after a flight and hugging her was the best feeling ever and one I will remember forever. After only spending a week with her, I knew I wanted to be exactly where she was. So, that next year I transferred to Liberty University. While the year we did long distance was one of the longest years of my life, it was worth it to spend the rest of my life with her.

The summer in between freshman and sophomore year of college, a friend of mine was working at a camp in Kansas, with her childhood best friend. One day, he did something funny so she posted it on her snapchat story. When I replied to it, the boy responded and thought I was cute so he kept talking to me. Later that night he followed me on Instagram and *told* me I was cute. I responded with, "Awww thanks!" Haha That boy was Trei and he kept the conversation going and we eventually moved to texting and then to FaceTiming. We FaceTimed every day for the next five months. Then, the week before Christmas, he hopped on a plane (his first ever plane ride) and flew to Atlanta to stay with my family for a week (thanks mom & dad)! We spent the week enjoying Christmas festivities, introducing him to my friends, and soaking up each other's presence. When he got back on the plane to go to Kansas, I knew I didn't ever want to feel the pain of parting again. We were long distance for a year. Then, God did a crazy thing. Just when we decided to give up on Trei transferring to Liberty for his junior and senior year, God made a way *a week before* he would have to move. He provided everything - financial aid, a place to live, a job. The next two years we got to live within 5 minutes of each other and experience the rest of college together. Those three years of dating laid the best foundation for our marriage. While it was hard to be away from each other, I truly believe it set us up to have a long and happy relationship. I love Trei more than anything in this world and I am so excited to spend the rest of our lives together.