They first saw each other in February of 2020. It was Darrell’s, Sean’s brother-in-law, birthday and he had gathered family, friends, and coworkers (including Kate) to celebrate. “I saw Sean from the moment he walked up. He looked so cool, jeans, boots, and a cute mustache. Of course, Darrell has cool friends, he is definitely too cool for me.” - Kate. Sean + Kate spent the majority of the party in their separate friend groups, their shyness keeping them from approaching the other, but both taking the chance to glance at the other while they looked away. “Kate of course caught my attention immediately with her big eyes and cool-girl designer vibe, but I was certainly too nervous to approach her surrounded by all her coworkers.” – Sean At the end of the party Kate approached Darrell and his family to say goodbye and that’s when Darrell introduced them. Nothing fancy just a simple “hello, nice to meet you”, and that was it. They left the party not knowing that they would meet again. Darrell had the opposite thought though. A few days later Darrell decided to set them up and gave Sean Kate’s phone number. Sean took it from there and as all modern romances start now, they texted. After a night of back-and-forth conversation Sean asked Kate on their first date. The next week they meet for drinks after work at, Ah Sing Den. They hit it off right away and the night progressed with good conversation exchanging travel stories, hobbies, interests, church, faith and with Kate even slipping in a dad joke. “This is where I knew we would definitely get along.” -Sean The evening was going so well it transitioned into dinner and even extending parking meters. As they left and said a simple goodnight neither knew how much fun they would have over the next few weeks and even over the next year.

(By Sean) The day I proposed, Kate was under the impression that we would be meeting my parents for a morning at Zilker Botanical Garden, then after for a fancy brunch, and end the day with a small friend gathering. She had a particularly busy week, so I had the chance to hide the real plan as a treat after all her hard work. That morning when I picked up Kate, I told her my parents decided they couldn’t actually make it (the real plan all along) and it would just be she and I. The week before I had scouted around the gardens to pick “the spot” and coordinate with my friend Ashlyn, who would be there covertly taking pictures. We started our walk on the far side of the gardens and I eventually lead us to the central herb and rose garden. When we came to the perfect spot my heart was pounding, my throat was dry, AND Kate was forging ahead to move onto the next section of the garden! I had to grab her hand and turn her around. We both took off our masks (because covid), I held her hands in mine, got down on one knee, and completely forgot everything I had planned to say. Apparently I was able to get to the important part, “will you marry me,” and somehow she said yes! After Ashlyn came out of hiding to take a few more photos, we continued to walk around the garden to soak in the moment. We were engaged! Soon we shared the news with our family and close friends. All excited for us! The celebration continued with the two of us heading to the surprise brunch I had planned at Matties. My sister Ellen made it extra special by coordinating with the manager to have flowers and champagne waiting. It was the cherry on top of the perfect morning. That evening we ended the day with Kate’s friends. The dinner party was just another guise, as I had worked with her friend Morgan to actually plan a small engagement party. With a year of social distancing, it was the perfect end to the perfect day, celebrating with friends as we prepare to embark on this next chapter of our lives.