Michael and Macy credit their love story to Cheyenne Tiemann. Cheyenne and Macy grew up in youth together at First Christian Church. One day, when Cheyenne and Macy were both back in Lufkin, Cheyenne asked Macy to reconnect over coffee (little did Macy know, Cheyenne had a bit of a setup in mind hehe). Cheyenne mentioned this guy she knew at work and Macy was not initially thrilled about a blind date. However, Macy said she would want to meet this guy "organically". So ... she waited. About a month later, after failed attempts of trying to bump into Michael (he's a busy and popular guy!) Macy finally shot him a message. Michael opened it and responded in 4 minutes. They've been together nearly everyday since. Truly, everyday.

Sometime in March, Macy received an inquiry for someone requesting proposal photos (shoutout to Jared Beatty). Knowing this was one of Michaels friends, Macy instantly texted Michael saying "Your friend is getting engaged!" and Michael was thrilled. We gotta get this guy into acting. Anyways! Usually when Macy has a session Michael will come along and they will go do something fun after! So Macy invited Michael to come along and surprise his friend on the day of their engagement (not at alllll thinking this would be her engagement day). The week of the engagement rolls around and on Monday Michael is being very insistent that Macy wear a dress to the session so she wouldn't have to stop and change on the way to their date night after. Macy thought it was suspicious, but didn't want to get her hopes up so she agreed and moved on. Later on in the week she began to pry. Macy was asking everyone what they would be doing on Friday 5/8 because she knew if anyone had open plans then maybe they were going to her engagement. But after very convincing word from Michael, Macy dropped the ideas once again, and prepared to take photos for someone elses proposal. The day comes! Friday May 8, 2026. Macy packs up her camera, puts on her dress, and heads to Galveston with Michael. On the way there, she gets a bit whiny thinking how this is someone elses proposal day and not hers. How much longer would she have to wait? How would Michael propose to her? What would she wear? Of course, she ended up asking Michael all these questions. He is such a patient man to answer (to the best of his ability) each of these very specific questions. But overall he assured her, it would be sometime soon. Macy got a text from her client at 2:30pm as they pulled up to the spot where her client should've been proposing. "Hey Macy, I know we said 3pm but can we move it to 4? We're running a bit behind schedule." Macy turned to Michael and said "Oh no we might be sitting here for an hour and a half. They won't get here til 4." Michael said "Whaaaaaat?" (the oscar does NOT go to Michael Southerland in this moment). They pull up closer to the beach and Michael says " Why don't you put your shoes on?". When Macy looks over at him, he is drained of color and sweating in between his eyebrows. She puts her shoes on and Michael walks her over to the gazebo. He gets to the first step and says "So Jared is not proposing today...". That's when Macy absolutely lost it. They got engaged 5/08/26 in Galveston. The most perfect day.