Alex had been going to Valleydale Church for a semester and then I showed up. I remember Alex and two of our other friends sitting at a table together, so I walked up to the table, sat down and immediately struck up a conversation with them. Alex stood out to me because of his socks (he has a MILLION pairs of crazy socks). So Alex and his friends were asking me about school and life, just getting to know me. They all also went to UAB so they offered for me to carpool with them to church in the future. Well...that never happened, none of them ever got my number/gave me their number, so life went on. I wasn't super involved in our college ministry at that point, so I really only saw him on Sundays. Fast forward to Summer 2019, I went to Guatemala for 3 months and didn't see or talk to Alex at all that summer. I got back and drove back to Birmingham to get ready for the first week of school and I ran into Alex and the first UAB football game. I took my friend over to meet him and we chatted about our College Retreat that we were leaving to go on that next day. We had to be at the church at 5 (and for all you people knowledgable in all things Birmingham traffic, know that 3-6 is the worst time to be on the road), so I did what any nice human would do...I invited him over to my apartment earlier that afternoon so that we would be closer to the church and have less traffic to fight through. I took his phone and immediately put my number in so he could text me when he was on the way. The next day sure enough he came and we headed to church. My roommate looked at me before we left and said "why don't you date him?" "Absolutely not" I said, not knowing what the next few days would show me. We went on the retreat and spent lots of time together, and at the end someone asked me, "Do you like Alex?" and my response was "Well, if I do, I sure didn't plan to..." We got back from the retreat, Alex asked me on an official date, and from that moment I knew I had picked a good one.

I met Rebekah at our church in Birmingham in the Fall of 2018. She walked in to church and I couldn’t help but wonder who the beautiful new girl was. I went to talk to her with some of my UAB friends and we found out that she also went to UAB. I suggested that we carpool to church in the future, but none of us ever got Rebekah’s phone number so that idea didn’t work out. We eventually became friends on social media, and we occasionally spoke to each other at our church events. Fast forward to the summer of 2019; Rebekah was finishing up her time on mission in Guatemala and I was wrapping up my time in Louisville as a staffer for a Christian camp. Rebekah posted a picture of her serving in Guatemala and I thought she looked so joyful and radiant. When we got back to UAB for our fall semester to start, I decided that I was going to make my move. I saw Rebekah at our first football game of the season and I was planning to ask her for her phone number. She looked incredible despite the fact that her dress was the color of the opposing team. Rebekah walked over to me in the stands and we struck up a conversation. We mostly talked about our upcoming college retreat (which was the next day). I mentioned that I was NOT excited to fight through rush-hour to make it to the church. Rebekah, being the courteous person that she is, asked if I wanted to meet her at her apartment earlier that day to beat the traffic. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to spend some time with her, so I immediately agreed. Before I could even ask Rebekah for her number “to coordinate plans,” she took my phone out of my hands, put her phone number in, and texted herself. When I got to her apartment the next day, I felt so welcomed and all I wanted to do was get to know her better. I took our things down to the car, offered to drive “to save gas,” and I guess you could say that the rest is history. I am so thankful that Rebekah’s path crossed with mine and that I have the privilege of marrying her.