Our story begins March 1st, 2025. It was one of the first warm days of the year so naturally Natalie & her friends go to the apartment pool where Simon was living. Not knowing he lived there, or even existed, the girls laid out enjoying the sun for the majority of the day. One of Natalie’s friend had heard of another boy on the Anderson Golf Team, & knew they were in the area. She invited him & his friends to come join the girls at the pool. They of course, in boy fashion, come late & didn’t interact with the girls at all. Natalie & her friends leave the pool to go home, shower, & grab some dinner. Natalie's friend calls her not much later saying that the golfer she was talking to called her & invited them to a different apartment in the complex where she lived. That apartment was Simons. Natalie didn’t have anything other to do, so she happily agreed to come with. Natalie & her friends made their way to Simons apartment, where they were promptly introduced to 6 other golfers. The rest of the night Simon & Natalie hit it off, being each other partners for games they played. As Natalie & her friends were leaving, Simon asked her to dinner later that week. Obviously Natalie agreed. They went to J. Peters in Anderson on March 5th, 2025 and got ice cream at Nutty’s after a successful first date. Their second date was ambitious but ended up being one of the most important days in their relationship. The following Sunday, Simon & Natalie hiked Table Rock. A 7 hour, steep climb in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. They had nothing to do but talk & get to know each other. Reaching the top and eating lunch, they both realized how much they had in common & how they loved learning about each other. The next few weeks flew by, Simon & Natalie spent nearly every day with each other. Telling stories and asking hundreds of questions seeing where this special feeling could go. After the first day, Simon knew where this was going, but wanted to make sure Natalie felt the same way. On March 21st, Simon & Natalie went to Hometeam BBQ in Greenville for a date night. On the way back Simon was brainstorming how to ask her to be his girlfriend, while also working up the courage to ask. When they got back to her house, Simon sat her down & proceeded to express the way he felt about her & why he knew he was making the right decision. Obviously, she couldn’t say no to Simon and everything else is history!

Simon obviously knew he couldn’t let Natalie get away, so he decided he had better put a ring on her finger before she did. He spoke to his family about it, and they were thrilled to hear he was ready to take the next step. He got the ring in late November, planning to propose in early spring, but it was burning a hole in his pocket. Before long, he spoke to Chris and Nanette about proposing. They were excited to welcome him into the family and could clearly see how much he loved Natalie. Natalie had always expressed that her family needed to be present when she got engaged, so Simon told Chris and Nanette that he wanted his family to be there as well. Chris and Nanette were delighted that Simon’s family would be part of such a meaningful moment. He shared his idea of proposing while he was in Texas for New Year’s, but that was as far as the plan went. Together, Nanette, Chris, and Simon talked through different ways to keep the proposal a secret while still giving Natalie the moment she had always dreamed of. They eventually decided to disguise the proposal as a family photo session so everyone would be dressed up and in a location that was meaningful to her. When Simon arrived in Texas, they still hadn’t chosen the perfect spot. While Natalie and Nanette ran errands, Chris and Simon set out to find the right location. They visited a few places before settling on one that held significance for both Simon and Natalie, as well as for Natalie and her sister. On New Year’s Eve, they headed out for “family pictures” by Lake Houston. They took a few group photos to give Simon’s family enough time to get into position. When it was Simon and Natalie’s turn for photos, he finally told her the truth—that they weren’t there just for pictures. He had the ring, and he was proposing. Simon asked her to marry him, and after thinking about it long and hard (and maybe a little convincing), she said “Yes.”