We swiped right. Yup. I said it. Steven and I matched on the app Tinder. We text here and there for a couple weeks, and Steven consistently tried to hangout. I however, just wasn’t sure about it... I mean it was Tinder... I never expected to marry the guy from Tinder.. but after about a month of Steven trying, I caved. A family friend at my parents House Warming Party (coincidently enough his name is Steve) asked me if I was seeing any one, and I said “no”, and Steve said “I bet there is a guy out there just waiting for a chance with a girl like you, God’s got a good one for you”.... well then it hit me, he was right. I had a cute and funny guy trying, and all I’d done was blow him off for 5 months.... So, I texted Steven almost immediately, and finally invited him to come to Greenville to my friend Natalie’s birthday party. To alleviate the awkwardness I told him to invite his Marine friends, since I was gunna be with a group of mine. Well, he rolled up in a silver Mustang, and was grining ear to ear... and that’s the moment he won me over. His smile gets me every time!

It didn’t take long for us to figure out that we had wasted enough time, so we made it Facebook official and have been together ever since!

We had been talking about getting engaged for a while, okay... I had been talking about getting engaged for a while, but Steven never really fed into it. So when our 2 year anniversary was coming up, I started getting the feeling he was gunna pop the question. I text my friends and sisters trying to see if I was right or if I was just crazy pushing the idea... well my sister Sloan knew Steven was gunna propose, so she gave him the heads up that I was getting suspicious. Which then led to her to confess she was expecting (I was thrilled to become an AUNT!!!!), and so they used that news to throw me off. Sloan was the real MVP for my engagement because like any good sister should do she made sure my nails were done and looking perfect for my ring pictures💍 That Saturday Sloan let me open a gift with a bib that said “I love my auntie”.. I was a bit confused at first but boy was I EXCITED! It did exactly what they thought it would- I was completely thrown off!! That next day was Veterans Day, and exactly two years from the day me and Steven met. He took me to Duke Gardens and we walked around. It was cold, my nose was running, my feet were hurting, and I was getting a little...bored. So I kept asking Steven if he was ready to go... (I was so snappy too, I could’ve been much nicer at the time.. poor guy 😂) He walked me back to my favorite spot of the whole gardens and asked me to spend forever with him, and of course I said YES!

As many of you know we are already legally married. We had a courthouse ceremony on 6/15/18. With Steven getting out of the Marine Corps, me moving back to Efland, and both of us struggling to get where we needed to go, this made things and opportunities open up. It allowed us access to a VA home loan, more BAH allowance for Steven while he is in school, and it kept Steven with me in NC instead of moving back to Tennessee. But I wasn’t willing to give up my wedding day, my dress, my daddy walking me down the isle, my first dance, or having all my friends and family there to celebrate... So we agreed to still have our wedding day— and that’s gunna be here before we know it! It is exactly a year to the day when we went to the courthouse, and our ceremony will be a bit different and a little more personal, but I am so excited for my Dream day and the chance to have all the people I love present ❤️

If you asked me 4 years ago if I thought I’d be where I am today, I’d laugh. I never thought I’d get the good guy that genuinely cares about me. But in Gods time, his plan, and his way he led me straight to Steven. I went through the countless heart breaks and questioned why I was consistently not good enough. But now I am so thankful it never worked out with anyone else, because I have everything I’ll ever need in one person. It will happen for you, just trust that in His time and his way it will happen. Be patient, stay humble, and be kind. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~Jeremiah 29:11 ~