We are SO getting married!

Having not been in the dating scene in a very long time, I decided to try online dating and downloaded the Upward dating app. I was nervous and not sure what to expect, but I "liked" a picture of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and to my surprise, she "liked" me back! After talking to her for about a week, we set up our first date to the Barbie movie. She was already planning on going to the movie, and I asked if she needed a Ken ;) Great news for me - she did! The day comes, and I had been bragging about ALWAYS being early for everything I do. Well...I did not take into account the traffic from my house to hers OR the construction going on...so I was late to our first date. We finally get into the movie, and some people were in our assigned seats. Since it was dark, and we were late, Breann had me get them to move; apparently that’s a "blue job." After the movie, we headed to dinner at Montana Grille. That weekend was Camaro Fest, so we headed over to the meet up, just walking and talking. I knew I wanted to be with this woman. Once we got past the idea of my four kids and her four cats, we were on our way! I shook her hand as I dropped her off at her car, hoping I would get a second date. And what do ya know, here we are preparing for our wedding day and life together.

In June of 2023, I saw an ad for the Upward dating app. I hadn't heard of it before, and it was advertised as Christian, or 'faith-based,' so I thought I'd give er a go. I told the Lord he had three months to send my husband, or deliver me from the desire to have one. Looking back, I feel like he said, "ok, bet." I paid for three months of full access, and I tried to be very intentional with my matching. At first, it was more of the same, but after about three weeks, I came across Chris' profile. He was a little older than me, and Pentecostal...which I am not...but I thought he was pretty cute in his selfies, and I liked his tattoos. My original thought was along the lines of "he's probably got a past too, so this will be fine for now." I honestly had ZERO expectations that anything would come from my ultimatum to God regarding my dating life. We started chatting, and he mentioned his daughter. We chatted a little bit more, and he mentioned his son. We kept talking, and he said something that made me realize he wasn't talking about the same daughter he had already mentioned, so I asked how many kids he had. FOUR. LOL. FOUR KIDS. I just turned my phone screen off and set it aside, face down. There was no way I was ready for that. Where would they sleep? Where would we live? Do I have to move? Can he move? What about our jobs if one of us moves? ALL the long term questions were swirling, and this just seemed like a stretch. However, I gave in (I thought he was cute, remember?) and we kept talking. I mentioned my plans had fallen through with a girlfriend to go see "Barbie," and he hit me with "Do you need a Ken?" I squealed with delight. DID I EVER! I tried to prepare him for how excited I was, and that I already had my outfit in the works. He seemed unfazed, so our first date was planned. We met at the theater, because my momma didn't raise no fool, and we don't let strange men (WITH TATTOOS) come to our house on the first date. These precious little teen girls took my picture under the movie poster, and insisted I get "my Ken" in a picture, too. They had no idea it was our first date - how awkward! He drove us to dinner, and he prayed over our meal. When he dropped me back at my car, I was dreading that uncomfortable post-date silence, only interrupted by the repeating "I had so much fun" and "this was great" and "it was nice to meet you" over and over until one of you dies. I didn't have to worry much about that, because as I told him I had a good time and it was nice to meet him once, he reached over and shook my hand. Me to me: "No way you're getting a second date, sis. He thinks you're crazy." Due to us living an hour and a half apart, our dates came (and are still) pretty spaced out, but I was so impressed by how much effort he put into seeing me. He drove down for our dates for the first few months we were seeing each other, and by October, we were inseparable. Ew :) Anyone who knows me knew my love/hate relationship with dating, dating apps, and the opposite sex. For about 12 years, I had tried it all - Tinder, Match, eHarmony, Christian Mingle, organic dating...where you meet men in the wild doing things you both already like, asking for people to set me up with single guys they knew, and even praying really hard before church camp every year that THAT would be the year I met my husband. Literally, tried it all! Mid-2021, I swore it all off. I was focusing on me and my life - working out, spending time with friends, traveling, going to concerts or ball games or races - anything but dating. That was hard at first, but it got easier as time went on, and I was completely ok with being single Breann. I bought my house, prioritized spoiling my herd of cats, and had a stable job I enjoyed. Or so I thought... God showed up and showed out to meet my relationship demands, and I feel so blessed to have found the most patient, kind, considerate man (who loves my cats) that I get to spend forever with! All in HIS time.