Thank you for being a part of our journey

The couple met at Cornerstone Academy middle school in 2007 at the first dance of the year when Nicole was in 6th grade and Stephen was in 7th. Being the gentleman that he is, Stephen kindly asked for a dance with Nicole when a slow song came on ("Look Me In The Eyes"- The Jonas Brothers), primarily to play his role as an upperclassman of getting the 6th graders out on the dance floor. Nicole was smitten. She couldn't get the dance out of her head for the following days, weeks, months to come. She had a full blown crush on Stephen for the rest of her middle school days, even once Stephen had moved on to high school her eighth grade year. She often sent him the lyrics of the Taylor Swift song "Hey Stephen" on Myspace to further communicate her feelings toward him, but to no avail as the rest of the world had already transitioned to Facebook. Fortunately, Stephen never spurned her or cast her off as "weird," despite many opportunities to do so. He was always incredibly kind towards her and recognized that she was merely an ambitious young woman, which was almost admirable. She left an impression that would ultimately last a lifetime. With no indications that her romantic gestures were going anywhere, Nicole decided to leave her crush on Stephen in middle school and went into high school with a clean romantic slate. They remained friends throughout high school, and even ended up getting the same first job at Kumon North America down the street from their school. They officially split ways once Stephen graduated in 2013 and did not really speak beyond that.

The year is now 2019. Both Nicole and Stephen had recently returned to Houston for varying reasons and were settling into their new ways of life. Stephen had recently spent a good amount of time in various hospitals and used most of that bedridden time envisioning his ideal future relationship as well as the kind of person he was looking for in a life partner. Nicole was living with her roommate (and fellow Cornerstone alumni), Daune, and was preparing to start off the school year in her first year as a full-time teacher. While recalling some of her more failed romantic experiences, Nicole described her middle school crush on Stephen and how intense she was during that experience. She hadn't thought about that crush for years-- mostly out of embarrassment, if we're being honest, because she did come on pretty strong. In a strange twist of fate, Stephen thought he saw Nicole walking down the street and sent her a message on Facebook the following day to see if it was her. While the person he saw was not Nicole, the two used the opportunity to catch up and eventually made plans for a date on the night of August 13, 2019-- 4 years before their wedding day. Nicole can't explain her intensity toward Stephen in middle school from one dance, and Stephen can't explain what called him to message her that random August day. All they can say is something in this universe has driven them together in this life, and they certainly feel that divine connection. ------------------------------------ If you're reading this, you have played a profound role in our journey together. You have loved, encouraged, inspired and ultimately shaped each of us into who we are today and we are so grateful for your involvement in our lives-- past or present. We can't wait to celebrate with you. #ThePriceIsRight ------------------------------------