Jeremy and I met through our involvement in the musicals at Fort Smith Little Theatre. I have been around the theater since 2010, but Jeremy first came to see a show in 2015. He came with a group of friends to see our production of Pride & Prejudice in 2015. It was my first show to fully costume for the theater. He decided he’d like to come give it a try and auditioned for Wizard of Oz that summer. I had decided to take a break from the musicals and missed my opportunity to meet him. When I returned to audition the following summer, I wondered how it was everyone knew and loved this tall blonde guy that I had not met. We performed together in Singin’ in the Rain and then again in Secret Garden the following summer. We were friends, but not that close since we weren’t around each other much. I did get to observe how he was backstage and thought he was a cool guy with a real servant spirit. I’d watch him work on set pieces and thought he seemed to know how to do a lot of things. I loved that you could tell Jeremy was a Christian by his actions. He was a true gentleman and I thought he seemed like someone I’d like to get to know better, as a friend.

I served on our theater's board and in 2018 we brought on 2 supplemental members. I remember being excited to see his name, but reasoned it was because he was intelligent, willing to work on just about anything, and had a calming presence. We started becoming friends, as we'd see each other at the monthly meetings. Then came the summer of My Fair Lady. I decided to bow out of auditioning in favor of getting the costumes just right. He was cast in the ensemble and played a prince, among other characters. At rehearsals, he'd occasionally come sit by me and we'd visit a little. Throughout the summer, I watched as he worked humbly around the theater doing whatever was needed, including being the last to leave, just to make sure all women were safely on their way home. He was such a gentleman! By the end of the run, I had become a little interested in him and thought he may be showing interest in me, too. However, the show ended and that was the end of that! A month later, Carole Rogers, asked if I would be interested in helping to sew costumes for Beauty & the Beast. Jeremy and I had discussed how we'd love to take on the challenge of building the pieces, when we'd talk backstage during My Fair Lady. I thought I'd check if he really would be interested and sent him an an e-mail. To my surprise, he responded within a couple of hours with a very thoughtful and thorough reply. Later that evening, I was in the middle of writing him back, when he started blowing up my Facebook messenger with video clips and messages showing his excitement. We chatted for several hours, but mostly about our faith, family, and music. When I finally said goodnight, I floated to sleep on cloud 9.

We agreed to work together creating the costuming for Beauty & the Beast and suddenly found ourselves writing each other a couple times a week. We became fast, close friends. Jeremy was already committed to lighting one show and performing in another, The Western District, so Beauty & the Beast would have to wait until October. I decided I'd go support him in his show (you know, as a friend) and found an excuse to go to a performance every weekend the show ran. It was then that I thought he might be interested in me, too. He always seemed genuinely excited to see me there. The second weekend a bluegrass band performed after the show and he and I found ourselves visiting for a while, as if no one else was around. After that night I decided he needed to come to dinner so Dad could visit with him. A couple weeks later, he found himself at my house for a "work meeting." We all had a wonderful time and I loved observing him interact with my family. By the end of the week, he surprised me and showed up for my Square Gathering performance. It's fun to look back at the video, as you can see the excitement on my face the moment I see him! I tried my hardest not to look at him the whole time, as he made me nervous. Afterward, I got to introduce him to some of my extended family and Sarah took some pictures of us. Then he had to get going as he had a friend's wedding to get to as well as another performance that evening. It meant the world to me that he had taken the time to drive to Ozark, in the midst of his busy schedule, to see a 30 minute program I sang with my sister. I was floating the rest of the day!

The Monday following his final performance, we had another board meeting and decided to stay after to work. We worked so well together and I had a blast being with him. We visited more about family and about his recent mission trip. I had definitely fallen for him and loved hearing every little detail. The time came for us to clean-up and get home. I found myself feeling a little down that the fun was over for the evening. Little did I know what he had been planning! I was gathering my things, when he said there was one more thing he almost forgot. I couldn't think of what it could be and asked, "Oh, yeah? What?" He was so cute shifting back and forth, as he asked if I'd like to accompany him to the symphony that Saturday. I was stunned. I had eagerly awaited this moment and now I found myself turning him down! It was my brother's birthday and I already had plans. I was so distraught, but managed to wait to burst into tears until I was well on my way home. Thankfully, Johnny totally understood and my family encouraged me to let Jeremy know I'd love to join him! Saturday came and he asked me to meet him at his house for dinner, before going to the concert. He looked so handsome in his suit and tie and I had a wonderful time. The music was so beautiful and I couldn't help but get a little emotional. I so appreciated that he didn't mind. I loved being with him and he did such an amazing job making me feel special. Over the next month, we'd get together from time to time, as we were getting to know each other better. I'd go to his church/family/friend function, and he'd go to mine. People would ask me if we were dating and I'd respond, "I don't know, but whatever we are doing, I like it!" Finally, November 17th, Jeremy was asked who I was and why I was at a family function. He responded, "She is here because she is my girlfriend." I. Was. His. Girlfriend. Eeekk!! I was his! The next few months buzzed with activity and I loved experiencing it all by his side.

Early on in our relationship, Jeremy sent me a text asking what my favorite Jane Austen book was. I replied, “Persuasion.” He wanted to read it to get to know me better and I gifted him my copy. No more was said about it, so I didn't have a clue he set about reading it. On March 22, I headed to his house to work on our Beauty & the Beast costuming project. He called and asked me to please meet him over at Fort Smith Coffee Co. instead. I rerouted my trip and headed downtown. He met me there and we ordered our coffee. We walked over to a table that we had sat at before. (I thought I picked the table, but unbeknownst to me, he had gone earlier in the day to make sure it would be available!) We sat there visiting for a moment, when he pulls out Persuasion saying he had finished it and thought we could compare notes. I loved hearing his excitement in discovering Jane Austen and her wit, and the parts of the story he really enjoyed. Then he asked my favorite. I love the letter Captain Wentworth writes to Anne declaring he still loves her. Jeremy told me he thought that may have been important to me, as I had left a bookmark there. I didn't remember having left it and he pulled it out to show me. Attached to it was a letter! He had used the structure of Captain Wentworth's letter to write one of his own. Be still my heart!! At the end it said to follow him out the door. At this point, I still did not know it was a proposal, as we had talked about doing something fun outside when the weather got nice and it stayed lighter. He walked me Downtown to the pocket park where we had visited for a couple of hours on a nice Autumn night after his show. We're both reminiscing, when he looks across and spots the Thai restaurant, where we had our second date. He said that was the night he knew he had found the woman he wanted to share the rest of his life with. As he got down on one knee and using my full name, he asked if I would give him the honor of becoming his wife.

The first time I know that I laid eyes on Hannah was Valentines Day 2015 at Fort Smith Little Theatre (FSLT), in Pride and Prejudice—a very lovely show. It was that night I decided I would try to get involved in theater, but it would be more than a year before I’d see her again, and much longer before our romance would start. That summer I got plugged-in to the Theatre with The Wizard of Oz (FSLT generally presents a musical play every summer as part of their season) and had a great experience, though she was not there. The next two summers, I did get to meet this actress who I didn’t so much specifically remember more than the others as having been in Pride and Prejudice, but did come to respect and recognize as a friendly actress who did good work as a costumer as well, and had a very nice family. As I was becoming more involved at FSLT, especially in lighting some shows, the next year I was brought on to the FSLT board. She was already serving on the board, in charge of costumes, so I got to see her face every month.

The first part of 2018 had already become my busiest and most favorite year that I could remember. I remember steeling my resolve to not look at marriage as an objective, and spend my energy being the best single person that I could be. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that I would be planning to marry Hannah Curlin by the end of the year, I would’ve seen no point-of-reference to make that possible—yet here we are. That summer brought the incredible My Fair Lady to our stage, and I was in that one too. Hannah was the costumer, and her work for that show was transcendentl. Sometime through that project, as we were working near each other backstage, as I got to know her family who were also in the show, and as I got to rehearse and perform in her beautiful creations, I started to see her in a new way and decided to really try to get to talk with her and know her better—it wasn’t always easy with our duties, but I found opportunities and she was beginning to become more beautiful and dear to me. One day, as the magical experience of that show was wrapping up, our board meeting for the month included discussion about costumes for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast—the musical selected for the next summer. It involves an unusual type of costuming, and we were looking at the option to rent. Afterward, I told Hannah that while it would certainly be a large task, I believed that the two of us could put our skills together to design and build a great set of costumes, rather than having to rent something that wouldn’t be a great fit for our stage (I did have a fleeting thought that it’s certainly a way to get closer to her personally, but it was not a romantic act at this point). Eventually she agreed to work on the costumes with my help.

As we started to discuss our new project and getting to visit, it became apparent that another special thing might be happening. We discovered so many similar and complimentary preferences, ideas, abilities, and history, that it was easy to drift outside of the scope of costuming and just talk. During this time, while I was still performing in The Western District, I recognized that I was bitten by the “love bug,” and decided to pursue this further. Now my performance engagement was over, and we began our head-start on the monumental costuming job ahead. Not wanting to make things weird in our new working relationship, I invited her to the symphony because at least it would be a nice thing to do together. She was so beautiful, and thankfully, by the end of the night she pinned me down and we established that it really was a date. As October moved into November, our calendars filled-up with things to do together, and our bond continued to strengthen. I had decided that she was probably the One, but we had a major project to work on, as well as all the holiday festivities with family and friends. Fast-forward to February and March: Harmony, love, encouragement from, family and friends were abundant. I now knew very well that she was “The One” and she felt the same. It was clearly time for some action. After meeting with her father, I started the hunt for a ring, which also turned out to be a test of my patience, but the timing turned out just right. On Friday, March 22, as the sun was getting lower in the sky and the weather was perfect, what happiness there was when I finally put the question to Hannah, and she said that she would be my wife!

My favorite real-life romance stories have always been the uncomplicated type: they meet—or one sees the other—and at some point a decision is made to pursue, then to love. Often there’s some hallmark event in these stories, but usually not much drama or mystery. My favorite real-life romance story is now my own. When I wasn't even looking for her, God brought me a woman who is so much my equal, so much my counterpart, so much my best friend, and the one who I am so honored to get to love for the rest of our lives. Update: Now Beauty and the Beast has come and gone. It was a long, hard, sometimes joyful, sometimes painful experience, but also one that has grown us together. Through it all—trusting God for what we need, and loving each other where we are—He has provided us with what we needed at the right time, we have learned so much about each other, and I am more excited than ever to begin our new life together.