Zane and Haylee’s story began long before they officially started dating on December 28th, 2024. Back in sophomore year, Zane used to sit at Haylee’s lunch table. One day he showed up with his hair “not done,” but Haylee thought his natural curls looked way too good to change. She told him to never fix it again… and his hair has stayed curly ever since. The two first connected through cross country and youth group, where their friendship slowly grew into something more. On long track meet days and bus rides, Zane would always hand Haylee one of his earbuds so they could listen to his playlist together. Somewhere between shared music, endless conversations, and constantly teasing each other at meets, they became best friends. One of their favorite early memories was spending an entire track meet flirting back and forth while somehow remaining completely oblivious to the fact that they liked each other. Even after all of the flirting they had done throughout high school — and even after jumping into City Lake together in December when it was in the 50s outside and the water was freezing — they still somehow convinced themselves they were “just friends.” At one point, when Haylee was sick, Zane brought her a Dr Pepper to make her feel better. After seeing it happen, her dad simply looked at the situation and said, “Here we go again,” already knowing exactly where things were headed. There was also the night they swam across City Lake with tubes in the dark and ended up talking to a man fishing on a dock whose dog was named Tubby — one of those completely random moments that somehow became one of the memories they still laugh about today. Eventually, Haylee was meeting with her mentor, Nicole Harris, while Zane’s mentor, Jim Bob — who just so happened to be Nicole’s husband — finally decided to step in and tell them what everyone else had already figured out: they obviously had feelings for each other and needed to talk about it. Haylee did not want to wait until the weekend to have the conversation, so after Zane got off work, the two met at Freddy’s and finally talked honestly about how they felt. That night, they decided they wanted to take things slow. Their relationship has always been built around adventure, spontaneity, and making unforgettable memories together. Like the time they accidentally stumbled upon a cave while dressed in nice clothes and decided to explore it anyway. What started as a huge cave entrance slowly became tighter and tighter until they were crawling through spaces barely three feet tall, laughing the entire time. Or the trip to Lover’s Leap, where they spent the day cliff jumping together. Haylee jumped without hesitation, while an entire boat full of girls had to cheer Zane on before he finally made the jump too. One year later, on their anniversary, Zane planned a sunrise hike to a bluff overlooking the Buffalo River. The day started before 4 a.m. and somehow became an adventure before they even arrived after they accidentally hit a skunk on the drive there. They hiked up the trail in complete darkness using only a phone flashlight, making their way to the overlook just in time for sunrise. As the sun began to rise over the bluff, Zane got down on one knee to propose. Before he could even finish asking the question, Haylee got so excited that she tackled him to the ground. It was perfectly them — adventurous, joyful, slightly chaotic, and completely full of love. They are beyond excited to spend the rest of their lives together and are so thankful to celebrate this next chapter surrounded by the people they love most.