You never know when it’s going to be your last first date. Kim left New Orleans in 2015 to move to Houston. Rhonda and the kids moved to New Orleans in 2016 from St. Louis. Already, things aren’t looking good for our would-be brides. Until one weekend in 2018 when Kim was at home for her niece’s dance recital and Rhonda just happened to be available for new « interviews .» They were both up early that Friday morning. Kim was browsing and swiping - which seemed so tedious at 6am - until 3 or 4 swipes in, there Rhonda was purple lipstick, purple house. Beautiful, intriguing. Her. Kim sent a message and Rhonda responded right away. Who knows what Kim said, but Rhonda’s response? « Oh, you’re funny. We’re gonna have a good time together. » They agreed to meet the next day for a drink at lunch at The Velvet Cactus. Rhonda was already there when Kim arrived. She stood up to greet Kim and the first reassuring hug was in the books. If you’ve ever been at a restaurant with Kim, you know she makes fast friends with the servers and staff. At some point she turns to the server and says jokingly, « Shelby, you see how she treats me on our first date? » Rhonda quickly and confidently assured the server that this was not a date, but an interview! She was trying to determine if Kim would qualify for a proper date. FOUR HOURS LATER, they were still at The Velvet Cactus, finishing up the lunch interview when Rhonda challenged Kim to meet her on the dance floor. Not one to back down from a challenge, Kim asked where Rhonda liked to go dancing in New Orleans. When Rhonda mentioned that Ascendance, her favorite NOLA dance party was happening that night, Kim just laughed. Her brother was the DJ at Ascendance! It was meant to be. They met at Ascendance just before midnight. Rhonda threw a lasso across the dance floor and Kim shimmied her way into this new life. That was 5 years ago and they've been celebrating Cactus Day ever since.

In a time when proposals have become more public and produced, Kim and Rhonda went in the opposite direction. They decided that Kim would be the one to propose first. Together, they designed Rhonda's engagement ring and, after seeing the silicon model of the ring, Rhonda left the rest of the process to Kim. Kim was more interested in existing ring designs and had been sharing her favorite ideas with Rhonda for a while. Rhonda knew that Kim could propose at any time and so she bought the engagement ring that Kim had shared most often. And then she waited. Kim considered and planned lots of proposal options with their families (raise your hand if you thought you were going to be there!). But one Saturday morning, they woke up and they were the only people in the house. Rhonda had a love song playlist on while she showered and Kim realized that that was the perfect moment. When Rhonda got out of the shower, Kim was pretending to fiddle around in the closet. Suddenly she went down on one knee. At first Rhonda thought something was wrong, then she saw the ring box. There they were, naked and engaged! The following week, on another day when they were the only family at home, while Kim was in the shower, Rhonda surprised her with the same song, "Mango (Freestyle/Process)" by Orion Sun and an engagement ring of her own.