We met during band camp at Cairo High in 2010 but didn’t start dating until February 11, 2011. It wasn’t love at first sight, more like an instant friendship. The more time we spent together, the more we started to see each other as more than friends. The rest of high school we were inseparable.

In August 2013, Layton started school at the University of Georgia while I was taking classes at Valdosta State University. It was the beginning of 4 years of long distance. We spent every weekend together either in Cairo or Athens. This was definitely the hardest but most fun adventure in our relationship.

Labor Day weekend, we went to Helen, Ga for a weekend full of mountain air and hiking. (We developed a love of the north Georgia mountains from the years Layton spent in Athens.) So, on September 2, 2018, we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall we had never seen before and he got down on one knee in the dirt. It was one of the best moments of our lives! We are so happy and excited to start this new chapter together.