"Ever mine, ever thine, ever ours."

Good Things Take Time. We certainly have taken ours. And like every good love story, ours has a bit of irony. We attended the same high school. It was a small school where groups of friends traveled in impenetrable packs, but there were no strangers. We never had a class together, were not a part of the same clubs, and never spoke. At least not then. It has been a little over five years since we officially met in college. We were at a social function his fraternity held. I do not remember what the function was for – and I probably could not have told you if you had asked me at the time. I was too busy trying to think of a way to talk to him without defaulting to “Hey, didn’t you go to Harding?” He looked so handsome and confident as he spoke with one of his friends. The last thing I wanted to do was open with something that would trudge up awkward memories of high school days. Perhaps as I sat near him, appearing cool and aloof, the opportunity to make a witty joke or join in his conversation would be my in. This hope was quickly crushed when I realized that I could never contribute to the conversation he was having about something financial related. As riveting as they made it seem, the first mention of interest rates had my interest rate in joining that conversation plummeting. Eventually, the person he spoke to left and as he turned to see who else was around, we made eye contact. This was it. I had to act fast. We had already passed the “accidental glance” stage and were quickly advancing to the “awkward smile and look away” stage. So, I made my move and spoke first. I said, “Hey, didn’t you go to Harding?” I guess it worked.

I originally took a long time to ask Katie out on our first date. While she makes jokes about how long I took to ask her on a date and even to propose, we both agree we would not have done anything differently. Katie did not leave me guessing. She was happy to take our time and get to know each other, but she was not wasting time either. She said, “I am looking for something serious. If that is what you would like, then I would like to see where this goes. If not, I would love to be friends.” I knew just friends would not work for me. Our brief friendship prior to our first date was a solid foundation on which we have built our relationship. Our personalities gelled together perfectly, and we had a wonderful time. I could tell that she was an extremely caring and genuine person. We continued to go on several more dates and got to know each other more. One thing that showed me that Katie really cared about our relationship, even early on, was the amount of effort she put into it. From baking me tasty treats and amazing meals to being creative with date ideas and being a constant source of support, I could tell she really cared about me. Katie kept on doing things like this even after we had been on our first few dates and after about a year of dating, I knew I wanted to marry her and realized I could not imagine myself with anyone else.

I had been working second shift in a residential treatment facility for the past year. The job was demanding; long hours and double shifts every weekend made my participation in any social or recreational activities limited at best. Once I had left my job, we had the chance to go celebrate my acceptance into graduate school. Austin had made a reservation at a restaurant downtown. Whenever we go downtown, I like to get dessert at the Peabody, where – unbeknownst to me – Austin planned to propose. He responded with a cool “okay.” But whatever he had to keep him calm and collected started to break during our walk to the hotel. Austin was hustling, an uncharacteristic change from his lackadaisical gait that typically left him in my wake. He was rushing like he was about to miss the Super Bowl kickoff. I don’t remember what he came up with to tell me why he was in such a hurry, but I was trying so hard to keep up with him in my heels that I didn’t care to question it further. This was my first hint that some mischief was afoot. Once we got to the lobby, he suggested we go to the rooftop. This is not an uncommon suggestion for Austin. He has attempted to get me to sneak on to countless rooftops over the course of five years – I don’t get the fascination. The Peabody does allow people on the roof and as long as I didn’t have to sprint up the stairs to get there, I didn’t mind. But if you haven’t judged me as slightly oblivious now, just be patient. We step onto the rooftop. We walk closer to the edge to watch the sun set over the Mississippi. I am not sure how I missed my friends standing nearby – one even had a large camera with her – or the small crowd of strangers that gathered to watch in the corner. Don’t get me wrong, I sensed something was going on; but it wasn’t until he started reminiscing about all the memories we had made together that I caught on. When he said he wanted to make more memories with me, I thought, “This is it. This is the big one.”

So, we are planning our wedding. My favorite piece of this entire experience, by far, have been the constant reminders of how much we are loved. Not only by each other, but by our friends and family that have continuously gone out of their way to make us feel special. We cannot imagine spending our wedding day any other way. We are so excited to be able to share this love with you all. See you October 2nd!