Carter and I first met on January 15th, 2023. After texting for several days, somehow I weaseled my way into an our first face to face meeting. I was in Princeton having dinner with a friend and afterwards decided I needed some gas for the car. I communicated this to him as we were talking pretty consistently at this point. Of course there were gas stations there, but I told myself “gas is cheaper in Virginia”. So there I was, making a trip to Rich Creek, knowing I would be in his neck of the woods. I made my way down and remember getting a text from him asking what I was doing all the way down there and explaining how it was SO much cheaper. He asked if I came down there so we could meet up, but I played it off like getting gas was my only intention. (As if) After fueling up, I began my journey back home, not really sure what I thought would happen. Not long after, I received a message saying he was on his way and he would meet me back at Shell. The first place I found to turn around, I did, and was on my way. Nervous as ever, I let my gal pal, Katie, know I was meeting up with who then was a stranger and casually sent her my location just in case he tried to kidnap me. I pulled back into the Shell parking lot, he wasn’t there yet, so I had a few minutes to calm my nerves. But it wasn’t long before he pulled in and let me know he was there. As I got out, he did too and came to open my door to let me in. We drove around through some backroads familiar to him, but ones I’d never been down. We had casual conversation and shared a few likes and dislikes. This was when I vividly remember Reba coming through the speakers and him telling me what a fan he was. An hour on the dot after picking me up, he dropped me off right where we first met. We exchanged a hug and that was it. I drove home wondering what I did to mess it up, although in my head I felt it went as good as it could’ve. But our time together, an hour on the dot, felt a little suspicious to me. But my nerves were calmed when we decided to meet the next day for a proper date at none other than Chilis. Within the next few weeks, we spent more and more time together. I was more than willing to meet any chance we had between our opposing work schedules to see one another. Within a little over 3 weeks from meeting, we made it official and began our journey as boyfriend and girlfriend February 7th, 2023. Since then, we’ve made more memories than I could’ve imagined, went on trips to several states & The Bahamas, and experienced so many new adventures together. Who knew you could meet your soulmate in the Shell parking lot?