We first met in the fall of 2019 when my brother invited Ruben and my family to go to Nashville’s Oktoberfest and a haunted house. While I had heard stories about Garrett's college friend Ruben, our paths had somehow never crossed. As soon as we met, I could tell that Ruben was someone I wanted to spend more time getting to know. While waiting in line for the haunted house, Ruben and I talked for hours. I remember thinking how easy it was to talk to him, how it felt like he was listening to me very intentionally and how I felt very at peace with him. I could also tell that he was someone I could have deep conversations with while feeling truly seen and known. At the end of the night, I couldn't help but think about how natural and nice it felt to have Ruben there with my family. Our paths crossed only a few times over the next few years, but each time, I remember thinking how sweet and attentive Ruben was and began looking for opportunities to get to see him again. During my senior year of college, Garrett started hanging out with Ruben much more frequently, which meant I had an excuse to see Ruben a lot more as well. Soon enough, Garrett, Becky, Ruben and I began hanging out together very often - mostly at board game nights and dinners at Coco’s Italian. In 2021, our friend group decided to go on a cabin trip to Asheville, which was the first time Ruben and I were able to spend several days together. We made so many great memories during this trip and will never forget it! It wasn’t until our second cabin trip to Chattanooga that things began to change. One night during the trip, Ruben and I decided to watch TV and found a new scary series that looked intriguing. After watching half the season, I suggested that we finish the series together back in Nashville. Ruben agreed, and after finishing the whole series, we realized we needed to find a new show to watch (It may have just been an excuse to keep hanging out, but that's beside the point). And so we began hanging out several times a week, making dinner and watching shows together. Until finally we realized that we both wanted to be more than friends. We made things officially on January 1, 2023, (starting off the new year in the best way possible!) and soon went on our first real date at Cheekwood to look at the Christmas lights. Once we started telling people we were dating, we were a little surprised by how many people told us that had been expecting it for a long time. We even got a few comments along the lines of “wait - weren’t you guys already dating?” A little over two years later, Ruben asked me to marry him while looking at the Christmas lights at Cheekwood. It was the sweetest full-circle moment! Throughout our time together, Ruben has been the most attentive, patient, kind, caring, and sweetest man I could have ever asked for. While we have made so many memories and gone on countless adventures together, our fall memories will always be my favorite. Whether it be our cabin trips with friends, carving pumpkins, going to the mountains, traveling with our families to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, making seasonal lattes at home together, our spooky show marathons, walking trails at Percy Warner and the Natchez Trace parkway, or Ruben taking me (on countless occasions per my request) to see the changing leaves, I will cherish these sweet moments forever, and can’t wait to make more memories over a lifetime together.