Well, we met in high school. No, it was not like the typical I met him in homeroom type love story. We started talking through social media like a lot of teens our age. We talked through the end of my freshman year, and the end of his senior year through the Summer of 2012. His dimples, his love for the outdoors, and his athleticism drew me to him. He was funny, kind, and I remember he would text me good morning almost every morning that summer. I was certainly the more guarded one. I did not always text him back, and he now jokingly says “I was trying to play hard to get”. The beginning was cut short. He went on to college in Lamar, Colorado and I was still in high school, so life just went on as it would for the next few years. We would talk as our Fall semesters started, but the texts grew fewer and farther in between.

One of Thomaslee's closest friends, Eli, was tragically killed in a car accident in early 2014. Eli and I were friends but not nearly to the extent of his and Thomaslee's friendship. They played baseball together for several years through high-school. Eli was a young kid at the time of his passing and it brought a realization that tomorrow is not always promised, neither for ourselves or the ones we care for. Without going too into depth about this, the passing of this friend truly re-connected us. We always say that Eli brought us together again. He knew Thomas was good for me and I was good for him. We really do not know if we would have re-kindled that summer fling if it wasn't for Eli's passing. We definitely credit him for being a matchmaker up in Heaven! We continued to talk through 2014, and not until Winter Break did everything start falling into place.

I would say in January of 2015 is the true start to our relationship. We had been talking for a few months now through Christmas Break. We had known each other for a little under 3 years at this point. Thomaslee was now at school in Las Vegas, and I was finishing up high school. After coming back home from one of his games he drove with his mom. She was elated because he requested she drive with him. This is when he told his mom he had a girlfriend. She was shocked and knew it was “serious” because he had never talked about a girlfriend or brought someone home for his parents to meet. Shortly after that I met his lovely parents Paul & Pauline during a nice lunch at Dions. That day Thomaslee prepared me to meet his sister, Felicia. Felicia recollects Thomaslee texting her saying “I am bringing my girlfriend over.” She was, too, shocked. Her and her now husband, Will, had an apartment together, so he drove me over there. Felicia and Thomaslee are 6 years apart, and as I am sure you know she is very protective over her brother. I was of course nervous and wanted to make a good first impression. I heard stories about his overprotective sister so I was certainly fearful that she would not like me. Felicia and I got along well from the start, and she is now probably my closest friend and is a sister to me (fun fact: she’s my Maton of Honor). She is a true blessing, and I am glad we have the bond we do. Also, going without mention I met his furry companion, Capone or “Pone”. Pone is a red-nosed pit bull who loves to sleep and cuddle. They were inseparable and frequently drove around together, slept together, etc. I am certain Pone didn’t like me in the beginning, I stole the passenger seat. His seat. Now he is my boy too, this is our little old man fur baby! He is part of our family.

Introducing him to my family:
My main worry was our age difference. While we are only 3 years apart, he is still a few months older than my older brother David. I was prepared to argue the age difference of my parents if they brought it up, but they didn’t. With that stated, I held off on introducing him to my dad. He met my mom first at her apartment. She loved him and would have most certainly had her blessing in our marriage. He was her “TLEE”. A few days later I talked to my dad about Thomaslee, and we went over to his house, and he met him. I remember the relief I had as we sat in the living room, and they talked about baseball and hunting. I knew they would hit it off. Another big blessing for me was my Nana Sally having the opportunity to meet Thomaslee. My nana was not hesitant to tell me if she didn’t like someone for me and she made it known several times in the past. She called Thomaslee “hito” and I am so glad they got to know each other. My nana was my rock and that certainly solidified his blessing into our family.

Thomaslee and I had been together for a few months now. It was the day of my graduation, and we were parked at the stop light after leaving Olive Garden on Juan Tabo in Albuquerque. For some reason at that moment, I thought to myself “he never asked me to be his girlfriend”. So, at that stoplight, I told him that, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Not the most romantic place, but hey, it’s our story, right? We drive by that light when we’re in Albuquerque and it’s a funny memory. We had a lot of adventures that summer before he went off to a new school, Adams State University in Alamosa Colorado and I took off to Las Cruces for my freshman year of college.

Isotopes Game 2015: He took me to what I would qualify as our “first date”. We went to Isotopes Park for a summer game. Thomaslee having played baseball for about 16 years of his life was of course really into it. I knew the bare minimum from my brother playing baseball. I remember he mentioned something about a double play and I asked him, “what’s a double play?” I truly think he questioned dating me in that moment. After watching quite a few of his college games and asking lots of questions I can proudly say I have a good understanding of the game at this point 😊 First Fly Fishing Trip to San Juan This summer we went on our first trip to San Juan. Thomaslee is also a great fly fisher. My idea of fishing was Isleta Lakes and a bopper. Fly fishing was a whole new skill. San Juan has this great open place with tons of trout called the "kiddy pool". It’s a great place to learn, flat, and there's not much to get caught on. Thomaslee had just finished tying on my flies, and started on his rod. I will never forget this moment. He said, “Don’t get caught on the bush behind you”. Kid you not my first cast, I did. Bless his heart for his patience but he put down his rod and started untangling my line as I fished with his rod. He has always been so patient. He has taught me everything I know about fly fishing. I have my own vest, rod, flies, net, boots, and waders. He still helps me out a lot, but hey, he signed up for this!

As stated earlier, he went to Adams State for his last 2 years of college, and I went to New Mexico State for my freshman year. (Fun fact: He and one of his childhood best friends, JP lived together. He is a groomsmen) I know our parents were a little disheartened thinking this would certainly cause our relationship to come to an end. Two college kids, there’s no way. I spent my time in class and started my first job as an LPN at Sagecrest Nursing Home and Thomaslee spent his time on his studies and baseball. There was certainly lots of travel for us both. I would drive from Cruces to Alamosa (8-hour drive) and often we would meet in the middle in Albuquerque. It was not ideal, but we made it work. Being apart from mostly everyone I loved was hard, so I decided Las Cruces was not for me. This is when I decided to follow him up to Adams State. It was a big move for both of us. I was only 19 and he was 22. What are these two kids thinking?

Well sometimes you just gotta go for it. We found our first rental home together. It was cute. We call it 110 West; it was 900 square feet. Here, we truly fell more in love. He dealt with my few years of semi bad cooking, and I dealt with his oversalted food. We learned each other’s good and bad habits. We laughed and bickered. We truly started making a life together in this tiny little home. He graduated May 2017 with a bachelor’s in science, Business Administration. We moved to our next house, Oliver Street in June 2018. This was our nice house. This is where I finished up my bachelor’s degree in nursing. We loved this house, but after the passing of my mom I really needed some change. Thomaslee had recently gotten a new job about an hour out of town, and we really loved traveling to Salida to fish the Arkansas River. I had my heart set on this. Thomaslee really was fine in Alamosa, but he jokingly said, “if you find a house with a creek, we will move”. I was determined. A few months go by, and I found a house that I thought was a scam. It was in a mountain, 4 miles up a county road, a little closer for him in terms of travel time and there were RN openings at the local hospital; and guess what? IT HAD A CREEK. Now, we are in Salida Colorado. We moved here in July 2020. We love it!!! It has given both of us such a sense of peace that we both needed. Also, we dragged his parents and Felicia and Will up here too. We all love it.

As several anniversaries went by, I knew the time was getting closer. We talked about this next step in life. We talked about wanting to grow closer with Christ as a couple. We talked about our worries and fears about marriage. We talked about what is important to us as a couple. We have learned so much in these short years together. We’ve grown into adults together. We were at a good place in our lives, and we knew marriage was a good next step. We were ready! After on and off discussion about marriage through the last few months, I felt he would pop the question soon. About a month prior to this I was getting ready for work. He comes to the room and was like “hey try this on”. It was a ring from my jewelry box. Before I even had time to ask questions he rushed out of the room. With that little event a month before our 6th anniversary I had a feeling the day was coming.

It was our 6th anniversary. I woke up around 8 and Thomaslee wasn’t home. Shortly after waking he arrived home with flowers, donuts, a card, and latte from Starbucks. Of course, my heart was full of love. He came home to breakfast, a card, and a small gift. Together we sat outside on the deck with our amazing pitty, had breakfast, and enjoyed the morning. It was beautiful. As the day went on, we had plans to go to dinner at Mt. Princeton for the evening. It was about 5PM at this point and HE STILL HADN’T ASKED. I was getting a little disheartened because I know he would not ask in public when we are both very private. I thought I got my hopes up but was still excited to enjoy the evening. He was outside on the deck watching the light drizzle over the mountains. I went outside to join him and let him know I was ACTUALLY ready (not like the 5x over the last hour I said I was “almost ready”.) It was beautiful, a light summer rain. As I was staring off into the distance he just said “Hey babe... I have a question”. Before he finished the “Hey babe” part I had already turned around to the man of my dreams on one knee. It sounds geeky but time stood still, his words and the promises he made were perfect, and I of course SAID YES. I was shaking and crying tears of joy. It’s that moment you dream of as a little girl, and everything was perfect. After about 20 minutes we decided to take off to Mt Princeton. The hot springs looked packed, so we forfeited the idea and took off to Springs and had a lovely dinner. We called his parents the next day and invited them for breakfast. They had a slight idea of what may have happened but didn’t know for certain as we didn’t call the day prior. I showed them my ring as they walked up, Pauline cried, and was eager to discuss wedding plans. Next, I called my dad (who also already knew). Thomaslee had called him earlier in the week to assure he had his blessing. As the days went on, we shared with our closest family and friends.

I know that was quite long, but it’s hard to sum up all the little things about what makes us, US. It’s not a perfect story, it’s not a fairytale, but its OUR STORY. We have known each other now for a little under 10 years, and it has been such an amazing blessing to see each other grow into who we are now not only as individuals, but a couple. God has truly blessed us with each other. We are each other’s best friend, confidant, and look forward to what life will bring us as man and wife. Thanks for reading! Hope to see you there!! -Savannah & Thomaslee <3