Lexi and Tiernan met at Georgia Southern University at a social between Tiernan's fraternity and Lexi's sorority. The theme of the social was Angels & Demons. Tiernan being the smart intellectual he is, thought it would be a good idea to wear a Duke "Blue Devil" shirt that no one seemed to relate to the theme of the party, except Lexi. Lexi was talking with some friends when Tiernan walked up which triggered her to say the first introductory words. After introductions were made, they asked where each other was from. Tiernan told Lexi that he was from Swainsboro, a small town just up the road from Statesboro, which Lexi had known of due to routinely passing through traveling to and from school and her hometown. Tiernan, however, was a little confused when he asked Lexi where she was from as when she replied "Suwanee". Tiernan instantly said he had visited because he thought that she was referring to the "Sewanee" in Tennessee. The first challenge for the new friendship was a game of "cup" pong. While Lexi had to do most of the work for the team, they soon realized that they had the same competitive nature. The game of beer pong then turned into the two sitting on a wall outside of the fraternity house talking for hours about life, faith, and past experiences. When everyone was finally heading home for the night, Lexi conveniently walked 100 yards to her sorority house while Tiernan hopped in the bed of a truck with 3 other people, making sure to keep his head down, on a 15-minute ride to his home. The two did exchange social media accounts and messaged each other that night about what a great time they had together and how they both wanted to learn more about each other Well, the social was held in September and their first official date was not until January at El Sombrero. It would only take until the end of February for the two to officially begin dating, as Tiernan wanted Lexi to meet his parents before they became official. The same night Lexi met his parents, Tiernan asked Lexi if she wanted to be his girlfriend. Two weeks into their relationship the coronavirus pandemic forced them to be apart for several months which led to tough times early on but a stronger relationship when they met in Statesboro again!

Tiernan had been thinking about purchasing an engagement ring for quite some time however he wanted to pay off all of his school debt. In this time, he exhaustedly researched to obtain the perfect ring his future bride would love. They had a big summer planned with vacations in Tokyo, Japan to visit Lexi's uncle and Daytona Beach, Florida to visit Lexi's grandmother. Tiernan knew that he wanted to propose on either of these vacations but logistically thought that Daytona would be the better option as family would be there including Lexi’s Florida grandmother, and his family. Tiernan selected the ring on July 10th after very carefully creating a stop in Swainsboro on their way to Daytona. Three days passed before the time was right for Tiernan to propose. A few problems stood in the path before he could ask. The first problem was thinking of a way to get Lexi on the beach in picture attire so that she would not be upset with him later for allowing her to wear gym clothes in their engagement photos. The second was thinking of a way to discreetly hide the ring from Lexi before he could get a chance to get on one knee and surprise her. He thought that family pictures would be the solution to problem one, and his father stepped in to find a solution for problem number two. Tiernan gave the ring to his father and then his father would pass it off during the beach photo session. His father, an avid Georgia football fan who knew what a good handoff looked like, accepted the assignment. The families gathered up to take one big picture with everyone as planned and in the transition of family photos to couples photo. The rather expensive handoff occurred effortlessly and the future fiancé was none the wiser of the upcoming proposal. Tiernan, with all the confidence in the world knowing that the handoff had been successful, got down on one knee and proposed to the love of his life. Lexi, very excitedly, would say, "Yes!"