Sam and I first met in 2016 playing in a band together at a church in Warner Robins, GA. April 24, 2016 to be exact (according to Sam, I don't remember this haha). I was attending college nearby at Mercer University and Sam (aged 16) had just gotten his drivers license...I actually turned 21 the day after we met. Needless to say, we did not start dating right away. We did, however, continue playing music together in the same circles. Fast forward 3 years to the summer of 2019. Sam moved from his hometown of Byron, GA to Brookhaven, GA, where I was also living at the time. Upon living walking distance from one another in Brookhaven, we became quick friends, and it felt like we hung out on an almost daily basis. Slowly but surely, maybe even subconsciously for me, things changed somewhere along the way that year. We went on our first date in December 2019 (dinner at Bocado in West Midtown), and we've been together ever since <3

Like I said before, Sam and I became close friends while we were both living in Brookhaven. After we started dating, COVID-19 shut down the world and work for both of us. Like many others in quarantine, we decided it was a great time to get a dog. We got a Shiba Inu and named him Copper. Almost every day that it wasn't raining, we would take Copper on the same walk to the same park in Brookhaven. It became a really special place for us, and we would always talk about how much we missed it when neither of us lived there anymore. On Friday February 11, 2022, Sam and I were "on the way" to a "Maverick City Music dinner", when he suggested that we take a detour through Brookhaven on the way there. **Suspicious** So we drove through some of our old stomping grounds when, of course, we got to the park. **REALLY suspicious** Sam then suggested that we get out and walk around for a minute, and that's when I saw the flowers, the candles, the photos of us, our friend Marah with her camera...and I lost it. My suspicions were correct. We both cried so much, I didn't think Sam was going to be able to get the question out. Thankfully he did, and obviously I said YES. It was already perfect, but then my two best friends jumped out of a car and ran towards us. Then I REALLY lost it. From the park, Sam took me to one of our favorite restaurants, where all of our friends and families were waiting to congratulate us. It was the most beautiful night and I'll forever be so proud of Sam for pulling it all off without ruining the surprise! Best day ever.

It was 2016 when I met the girl of my dreams, but I had no idea what life had in store for us. Fast forward 5 years to April 2019 and I found myself living in Atlanta and living within walking distance of her. Abby and I had begun to hang out pretty much daily and she was always my go-to resource for how to talk to other girls (what she didn’t know was that I was literally trying to find a copy of her). It wasn’t until December of 2019, that she made the first move. I wanted to make sure everyone knew she did. To say my life was completely flipped upside down from that day on is an understatement. To anyone that knows Abby, they can agree with me that she is one of the strongest, most loving, and sassiest women you’ll ever meet. I am head over heels for her and I can’t wait to start our lives together. October 14th is the day that I finally get to marry my dream girl.