It all began in 1995, when Cyndi and Roger Meyer made a trip to China to pick up their beautiful baby girl. Without that venture, this love story may not have happened. Now let’s fast forward 26 years to what I deemed to be the most boring staff meeting yet. Autumnlee Meyer is introduced as our new school counselor at New Hanover High School. All of a sudden, there was interest. “Hmmm, maybe…” As we all know, I have, well.. no game. I stumbled through interactions over the next couple of years, even intentionally walking into her office with a stack of papers only to be told “I don't want those, you keep them.” But I persevered! I often drove the white limousine that some people call an activity bus and would make up something dumb to say as I drove by Ali when she would work the gate at home games. Usually something like “Man, they got you working all the time!” or, my personal favorite, “You working hard, or hardly working?” These interactions were usually met with an awkward response from Ali but every time I felt like I was getting closer to asking her out. Of course I wasn't. Then came the hottest day of the year in the Spring of 2023. It was Teacher Appreciation Day and the counselors decided to pass out ice cream sandwiches. These sandwiches were room temperature at best before they walked around with them outside, passing them out to all the teachers. With a melted glob of sugar, Ali approached me with what had to be the last remaining treat. She said, “Hey, do you want an ice cream sandwich?” I, with multiple sweet teeth, replied “Yea that sounds great!” I stomached the melted dessert while trying to make small talk and making it awkward without even trying. I walked away thinking that this was a breakthrough though. And maybe it was! About a month, and a couple more awkward encounters later, there was an opportunity! I went to test training like the good employee I am and Ali was going to test training because it was the last one of the day and she missed the first 3 sessions. That’s neither here, nor there. Of course, I was a complete gentleman, opening the door for her and handing her the 3 packets of materials that she would need to be the best proctor she could be. After the training was over, I drove home to let Brady out and an alert popped up on my phone. I assumed it was the group chat talking about burnt steak or in laws, BUT NO, it was Ashley Bellavida asking if I was interested in the little Asian girl that worked in her office. I was nervous, but also excited as I responded with a “Heck yea she’s pretty!” Our first date was at Edward Teach and Ali had so much fun that she decided to ask me out to dinner. She wanted Waffle House but I decided that was no place for a first date, as most would, so we went to Fat Tony’s. We went on a few more dates before making it official on June 14, 2023. And the rest is history! Ali has survived 1.5 football seasons and all of my quirks. We got engaged on August 17, 2024 at the Dan+Shay concert and are excited to begin our life together on April 13, 2025! We hope you can join us and celebrate LOVE with all our friends and family! Cheers to health and happiness!