I never would have thought a girls weekend to visit my sister in Nashville would have resulted in meeting the love of my life. Lauren, our friend Alley, and I bought tickets to a Halloween concert but cut out early to hit up Broadway. We headed to Honky Tonk Central so Alley could oogle at the cute drummer she spotted the night before. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers from Fort Campbell had decided to head to Nashville for the night. It was Halloween and even though a few were technically on call, they decided it was worth the risk of getting called in. Shortly after checking into their hotel, they piled into a cab for a night of bar hopping. After a few quick stops, they wound up at Honky Tonk Central. The girls and I found a spot by the stage and were just hanging out, enjoying the music. I hadn't even noticed a group of guys (not wearing costumes, might I add) just across the way until I felt someones eyes on me. I looked up and made eye contact with one, but went back to dancing. Suddenly, this cute blonde guy appeared by my side and tried to talk to me. Our conversation didn't last long due to the loud music and a random drunk fairy. She whispered something in this guys ear and I knew it was bad as he got the saddest look on his face and walked away. (I later learned she told him that he didn't have a chance with me.) With the help of a little liquid courage, this guy reapporached to start the conversation again. When it came time for his friends to leave, he asked for my number. I figured why not, I probably wasn't going to see this guy again and I still felt bad for whatever the random drunk girl had said to him. To my surprise, about 5 minutes after the guys left I got a text "from the cali guy at Honky Tonk." I figured we would text for a week or so before our conversation faded away. But a month later, we were still talking and he was making plans for our first date when I visited Lauren again over New Years.

After my deployment to Iraq I had one goal. That was to marry Kendall. So I dragged her to Long Hunter State Park for a long hike. About halfway along the trail, theres a bench overlooking Percy Priest Lake. After suggesting we sit for a bit, I told her how grateful I am to be her boyfriend. I talked about all the happy memories and adventures we've been on and how I can't wait for the many more to come. So I got down on one knee and I asked her to be my shotgun rider and marry me. Seeing as you're reading this, she obviously said yes.