We're getting married!

She mentions that part a LOT. It's not like I forgot about her, because I remember that night very clearly. It was an unspoken BYOB party. We don't need booze to party, you guys. But anyway, it was a Friday night. Will and I had just wrapped up a night enjoying some low-budget Improv, and had nothing left to do at 10 PM. Will got a text from Eric inviting us to go to the previously described rager (props to Eric). We both decided to check it out for a bit before calling it a night. Something you might not know about me is that I don't do that well in large groups of people I don't know - which basically describes this party (aptly named "Pr'Easter" btw). Fortunately, Eric knew Lindsay from volunteering in the children's ministry. That led to Will talking to Eric and Lindsay, and me fourth wheeling that conversation HARD. And that's how it started. I don't remember everything we talked about, but it was great. Lindsay is tall, beautiful, well-spoken, has very engaging and sparkly eyes, and clearly loves Jesus. Meanwhile, I was an unkempt, tired guy who always had the bonfire smoke blowing in his eyes, and was in the middle of a time of life committed to strengthening my identity in Christ and not creating anything more than friendships. That night was not the mythical love at first sight, but we both believe that God is the reason we were there. We spoke about committments to church, work, and our time in Austin, and exchanged numbers. We founded a friendship that night, which, once I actually did text her, grew exponentially. By the way, the next time I texted her was preeetty much the next time I had a night out, so I don't feel that bad :)

I knew we were going to get engaged at some point. But I had NO idea it was going to happen on May 6th (....and probably wouldn't have worn an old t-shirt and Nike shorts if I knew). It was the weekend of one of my best friend's (Kelsey) weddings in Houston, and all of my best friends from high school were coming in town for it. We had a blast celebrating Kelsey and Andrew together, and at the end of the weekend said a fake goodbye (real to me...) to each other at the post-wedding brunch on Sunday. A few weeks before the wedding, my friend Caroline had texted me asking to walk our dogs together at Rice the day after the wedding since I'd be in town, and mentioned that we could invite Mark and Caroline's husband Lucas to join. Anyone who knows me knows that I love dogs, so it was an easy sell. And an event that raised zero flags in my mind. We left the brunch to go grab my dog Remy, and I changed from a nice dress into shorts and a t-shirt because we were GOING ON A WALK. May in Houston. It's hot. And humid. This was the moment when everyone breathed a sigh of relief with the certainty that I had no clue what was going on. When we finally got to Rice, we walked around Rice's inner loop to the front of the school and through the Sallyport. I got distracted by people "larping" (a new vocab word for me...but something not surprising to occur on Rice's campus) and walked ahead to investigate. When I turned around, Mark was getting down on one knee. I don't remember what he said, but he remembers what I said ("DID YOU PLAN THIS?!"). In a blur, I said "yes" and he gave me the most beautiful ring! At some point, the amazing Kelly popped out from behind a column to capture everything, and Caroline and Lucas (and Winston pup) came running around the corner to celebrate and pray with us. We headed back to my parents' house where my friends and family were waiting to celebrate. Mark pulled off the perfect surprise proposal, and we can't wait for March 9th to come!