One fine day on Instagram in 2015, Drew Holcomb posted a picture of this cute single guy who worked for him. Upon stalking said cute guy's page (no shame), I found out I went to college with his sister. Destiny, is that you?! Sarah and I had met a few weeks before and felt we were long lost sisters. Not long after, Sarah let me tag along to a Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors concert Tim was working, and we got to meet in real life. So, yeah, Tim and I met at a concert. Pretty rock & roll, no big deal. As we got to know each other throughout the night I remember thinking, "We could not be more different. We're going to be great friends!" Tim and I kept up through the socials, and about nine months later he called me to tell me he'd be driving from his home in Nashville to visit Sarah in Chattanooga and was wondering if I wanted to grab dinner and catch up. Thinking we were just going to "grab dinner and catch up," I responded with a mere, "Sure!" And then it occurred to me that I had just agreed to go on a date. Now, at this point I already knew I was moving to Boston for grad school, and I had never been more uninterested in dating in my LIFE. But with the encouragement of some friends, I decided to go anyway because after all there is nothing that speaks to a poor college student like free dinner. Well, wouldn't you know it, it ended up being the best first date either of us had been on! I had planned the excuse of "I have so much homework" to get me out early, but after we finished dinner Tim asked if I wanted to go get ice cream and stroll across Chattanooga's walking bridge. I couldn't resist! Nothing speaks to me like free ice cream either. From that point on the rest was history.

In 2015, I was touring with a band called Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and we were playing a show at a huge amphitheater near Atlanta, Georgia. I ended up inviting my little sister, Sarah, out to the show, and she brought a friend from college... That friend ended up being the most beautiful young woman I had ever laid eyes on: Beatrice Brackin. The minute I saw her I thought to myself, "Wow, I would like to date her." But not wanting to be the "creepy older brother", I decided to refrain from any and all flirting. I bided my time, kept in touch, and almost a year later, as I was passing through Chattanooga to see Sarah I called Bea to ask her on a date. She said yes, but it seems my intentions had not been made clear. She was under the assumption I wanted to "catch up as friends." Months prior, I had asked Beatrice for restaurant recommendations for whenever I passed through Chattanooga, to which she recommended Tony's Pasta Shop as her favorite spot. Little did she know, this was in preparation for whenever I planned to ask her out on a date. The only problem: Italian restaurant's are the worst for first dates. And on that day when we arrived at Tony's, I made the HUGE mistake of ordering the Chicken Parmesan (while she ordered a dainty salad). Between the messy noodles and the spaghetti sauce everywhere, I looked like a complete slob. And on top of that, I was so nervous I was fumbling over every word. The date continued to get worse, and towards the end of our meal she used the excuse, "I have to get home to finish my homework." This was not how I envisioned our date going, and as we exited the restaurant I pleaded with her to give me 20 more minutes and take a walk with me. Surprisingly, she agreed, and I bought her ice-cream, and we walked the Chattanooga walking bridge for a good 40 minutes. Finally we were hitting it off, and the rest of the evening was perfect. A week later she said yes to a second date, and well... the rest is history.