Tyler and I both went to Texas A&M. Same school, overlapping friend groups, and mutual friends everywhere. And somehow, I never once met him. He swears our paths crossed back then. Honestly, I have no memory of it at all, and I remember everything, so it's still a debate if that really happened to this day. He graduated a year and a half before I did, and by the time I made it to Houston after graduation, he was already there, living his own life, working his own long hours at a Big 4 firm, completely unaware that I existed just a few miles away, doing the exact same thing. It wasn't until after we'd both settled into that post-grad chaos that our paths actually crossed. Our first date was at Superica. I remember watching him order the beef fajitas and eat them exactly as meat and vegetables, no tortilla, no sour cream, just simple, honest fuel. I didn't say anything at the time, but I remember thinking, almost immediately, that this man was exactly my kind of person. The more time I spent with him, the more I noticed the little things that made me fall for him. He's one of the hardest working people I know, and somehow still eager to learn after 12 hour work days, still asking questions or doing research, always wanting to get better at whatever he's doing. He's calm and gentle in a way that steadies me. Confident without ever needing to prove it, don't ask him about his football career if you don't want to hear about the best 5'9" linebacker to ever exist. And I won't lie, that smile and his ridiculously clear skin didn't hurt either. After our first date, I decided I could cook for him. So for our second date, I made my spaghetti squash, and that was really the beginning of everything for me. Fitness and healthy living had always been a big part of my life, and I quickly realized it was just as important to him. It wasn't one of us pulling the other along, it was something we already had in common and simply got to build together. Cooking healthy meals, early mornings spent at yoga studios, weekend workout classes when we weren't traveling, it all just fit naturally into the life we were already living individually, now shared. I've always been the one who loves to go out, and Tyler is a total homebody. Somehow that difference is what makes us work as travelers. I found in him someone who could match my love of adventure but also give me a home to come back to. Breckenridge became our place, somewhere in the mountains where we could finally just be still. And every fall, I find myself back in College Station with him for Aggie football, because some pieces of who we were before meeting, had to be relived together. Then in Rome, standing on the Spanish Steps with St. Peter's Basilica behind him, he asked me to marry him. Now I get to bring him back to the mountains that already hold so much of my heart, to marry him in Breckenridge on August 7, 2027. I can't wait to stand there and celebrate with all of you.

Our story starts at a college party, where I first met the girl who would eventually become my wife. I was talking with a group of her friends when she came over to say hi. We introduced ourselves and talked for a bit, and even though it was a brief interaction, something about her stuck with me. Little did I know it would be a few years before our paths crossed again. Fast forward a few years, and somehow, fate brought us back together. I brought up the fact that we had met before, although she swore she had absolutely no memory of it. I've since learned that her memory doesn't always survive more than two Miller Lites. Either way, I was just glad we had another chance to get to know each other. I got her number and asked her out, and, in what would become an early glimpse of her personality, she canceled our first date entirely. We eventually rescheduled at Superica, although even on the day of our date, there was a chance it might not happen. A lunch with an old professor friend had turned into an afternoon of wine, but thankfully, she still showed up. I'm forever grateful she did. On the drive home, she asked me to play her favorite song by an artist I'd never heard of. I remember thinking, "How does a girl this cute have taste this bad?" I gave her a hard time, took over the aux, and never really gave it back. As we continued getting to know each other, I found myself looking forward to every opportunity to spend time with her. She'd invite me over for dinner, usually something healthy and delicious, since she's an actual cook and I survive on about four ingredients. I loved how much we had in common, from staying active to always wanting to better ourselves. More than anything, I loved how easy it felt to be around her. The more time we spent together, the more I realized there was something really special between us. The more I got to know her, the more impressed I became. I learned how she could somehow finish a full day's work in just a few hours, how she graduated at the top of her class at A&M, and how she could be silly and lighthearted one minute and fiercely driven the next. I admired how hard she worked and how much she cared about the people in her life, even when my own long, distracted work hours sometimes made that difficult. She was smart enough to run circles around me, beautiful in a way that still catches me off guard, and athletic in almost everything she does (except running, she's extremely slow). But what stood out most was how thoughtful and caring she was. It wasn't just the big gestures; it was all the little things she did every day that made me feel loved and supported. She challenged me, made me laugh, and brought out a better side of me. I quickly realized that I had found someone who was not only my best friend but also the person I wanted beside me through everything life had ahead. From there, it really was only a matter of time. We found ourselves in Italy for a friend's wedding, standing at the Spanish Steps in Rome, and I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. I'd managed to keep the ring hidden in my waistband for the entire trip, knowing that if she'd had even the slightest hint of what was coming, she'd have checked every pocket I own. She said yes, and standing there with her on those steps, I couldn't have been happier. Looking back, it's pretty incredible to think that a brief conversation at a college party eventually led us here. I'm thankful our paths crossed again, thankful she gave me a second chance (even after canceling that first date), and most of all, thankful I get to spend the rest of my life with her.