We met about four and a half years ago at Tarleton State University in the Purple Poo. It wasn't until a year and a half later until we realized we were meant to be more than friends. We starting "dating" at the beginning of our last year of college. See, when you are in the Poo with 18 other people who are your closest friends and know everything about you, it makes it very difficult to date another member. Something like that could potentially cause issues in such a tight knit group. We kept things pretty secret for the first two months of our relationship. We wanted to make sure this was the real deal before sharing with the family. Austin would come over to my house every night just to tell me good night. We would sit on the front porch or the hood of his truck for hours on end learning everything about each other that we didn’t already know. About two months into “dating” is when our relationship came out. Before we told the family ourselves, I might add. I had “run into” Austin at the bar one night and he just kissed me… in front of everyone! Come to find out one of our brothers and one of our sisters saw it happen and it wasn't much of a secret any longer. Thank goodness for great friends, The Rockin’ P, John T & Oscar P.

We decided for NYE 2018, we would rent a cabin in Broken Bow and 10 of us would stay the weekend. Saturday morning, I woke up laughing from a dream I had. Austin asked why I was laughing and I explained to him that I had a dream he proposed to me with a color changing mood ring. He chuckled and said "...well did you say yes?" Of course my answer was yes. The girls stayed back to cook breakfast while the boys went to town for a couple things. We started talking about Austin and me and our future. Brandy asked when I thought we were going to get engaged and I told her probably the end of 2019... little did I know. That night, we went to a local brewery down the road from the cabin for dinner and drinks. All the sudden Andy and Brandy weren't feeling good so Simonne offered to drive them back to the cabin while we went to another place next door. We hung out for about 30 minutes and decided to go back and get in comfy clothes. We pull up to the cabin and Austin is taking a minute to get out of the car. Finally, he opens his door and I follow him out. I saw light on the fireplace outside but thought it was just a fire so I continued to the front door. Austin's sudden tug pulled me the opposite direction and my heart stopped for a second. The fireplace was lit and surrounded by candles and rose petals on the ground in front. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I SAID YES (obviously).