Our wedding date has moved up and our guest list has gotten smaller. We're restricting this event to close family members for logistics purposes. Please know that you are all still in our hearts and if we could afford to have everyone we love with us on our special day, we would. Andrew's recent graduation from boot camp put many things into perspective for us and we made some tough decisions. But we are so excited to embark on this journey and appreciate your support, love, and care in this endeavor.

We were both at callbacks for a studio theatre show called "Reasons to be Pretty." The moment we met, there was a natural chemistry. We were cast in the show together and ended up spending quite a bit of time working with one another, but nothing truly happened until...

After the show closed, we didn't see each other much at all. Until one day we happened to reconnect and ended up spending a lot of time together. We read an online web comic called Homestuck together and really connected over similar ideas and opinions. One night, we went geocaching together. While geocaching, we noticed a pillar of steam in the distance. We decided to chase it down. Andrew decided that we needed a soundtrack to our adventure, and we listened to Christopher Tin's "Baba Yetu", a beautiful version of the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. When we eventually chased down the steam, we realized it was coming from the nuclear power plant. We parked on the bridge across from the plant and watched the steam rise and unfurl through the air, tinted orange by the fluorescent lights of the building. There was a magical feeling to the night. The air itself seemed to urge us to just admit how we felt for one another.

Four months into our relationship we found ourselves at a park in Rock Hill. It wasn't a very special park. The only thing interesting about it was an ampitheatre and a pretty decent swing set. We had become incredibly close, and that day we ended up spilling all of our secrets to one another, everything that no one else on Earth had ever known about the other. Andrew kissed me on the forehead and whispered words that he hadn't said before. "I love you." For the next three years, I would not see that park again. We tried finding it together, but to no avail. On the night that the show I was directing, "Precious Little" opened, Andrew took me on a drive. He randomly parked, and I was confused. I got out of the car and noticed a swing set that looked rather familiar. I was so excited to realize that we were at the park where he first said "I love you." I ran off towards the ampitheatre, looking at the trees, reveling in this special moment. When I turned around, I gasped. Andrew was on one knee, a ring box open in his hands, and a big grin on his face. I closed my eyes for what felt like years. I opened them slowly, peeking out between my fingers. "Phylisha Mace. Will you marry me?" I burst into tears and hugged him tight.