Sierra and Phillip met on the first day of the eighth grade but didn’t become close until after high school graduation. In the summer of 2013, they bonded over board games and movies. They kept running into each other at parties, then started to go on adventures at Cole Park and the beach. Sierra remembers Phillip as “Quiet, funny, and extremely kind.” Phillip was struck by how cute and sweet Sierra was and started to develop a crush on her. Their friendship blossomed over games of Dungeons & Dragons, where Sierra played a pixie and Phillip played “Tarak, a half-orc brawler who was weirdly beautiful.” Brianna and Rebecca, two of the bridesmaids and several other friends did try to set them up a few times but the timing was never quite right despite the obvious sparks between them. They went on several vacations to San Antonio as friends, where they loved seeing the Riverwalk, and going to anime premieres. Rarely a week went by where they didn’t spend time together. No matter what one was going through, the other was right by their side. As the years passed, they became inseparable. Phillip asked Sierra out a handful of times over three years but she was too worried about ruining the friendship to take the next step. All signs kept pointing to them being meant for each other, as her friends were quick to point out. She later characterized this time as being a cross between Elizabeth Bennet denying her attraction to Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Meg’s musical number, “I Won’t Say ‘I’m in Love’” in Disney’s Hercules. Over this time, she continually found herself thinking about Phillip. On January 20th, 2018, she mentioned to Phillip that she was hungry and he said, “Here, have some thin mints.” She nonchalantly replied, “I think I’m ready to date.” Phillip was shocked! He sarcastically replied,“It only took half a roll of thin mints? Had I known that, I would’ve bought cases of thin mints three years ago!” They then made their relationship official.

Over the next two and a half years, Sierra and Phillip’s love blossomed. They both knew they wanted to take the next step towards spending the rest of their lives together but Phillip wanted his proposal to be a surprise. When Phillip told his parents he was planning on proposing, his mother gave him her wedding ring from her first marriage, which she was saving for him. He understood how important family is to Sierra, so he visited her dad, Vance Longlois, at work and asked for his blessing. Vance eagerly welcomed Phillip into the family and advised him not to bring the dogs when he proposed so Dexter wouldn’t eat the ring! Next, Phillip talked with Brianna, Rebecca, and Theo to get ideas for the perfect proposal. He didn’t want to leave anything to chance. On August 6, 2020, Phillip woke Sierra up with breakfast in bed and said he was taking her on a surprise date. When they arrived at Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge, Sierra, an avid naturalist, was excited to go birding. Phillip waited until Sierra ran ahead to photograph a bird then started playing the theme song from Pride and Prejudice, Sierra’s favorite movie. She spun around to see him down on one knee with his mother’s ring. Both Sierra and Phillip started crying tears of joy when she said YES!