To put it short: They met at a wedding and it's safe to say love was in the air. Brian was the best man in his childhood friend's wedding and Payton was invited as a mutual friend's plus one - cheers to the Hillhouse's! The night before, they wandered into another wedding reception at the venue to dance together. The next day they ventured over to a nearby casino and learned a bit more about one another over the roulette table. That night at the Hillhouse's wedding they danced more and chatted at the post-wedding cigar room party. They instantly had a connection. After the weekend, Brian went back home to Austin, TX and Payton to Springfield, MO. After 3 long weeks, Brian went out on a limb and asked Payton to be his date to another wedding. He was nervous about how she would respond to the invitation, but luckily for him she said YES! At the wedding in Oklahoma they were able to spend significantly more time together and continued to grow closer. Their friends saw a connection from the outside looking in and it became obvious that there was something very special between them.

Since they were living almost 10 hours apart from each other, they were texting, calling, or Face-Timing to keep in touch about their days. Any and every opportunity to see each other was taken advantage of. Payton drove to Brian's family farm in Warrenton, MO for a holiday weekend after she had a Dwight Yoakam concert in KC the night before. Brian cancelled his round-trip flight home on that same weekend so that he could drive through Springfield to spend more time with Payton (the 20-hour road trip definitely landed Brian extra brownie points). Payton carpooled with some buddies down for a weekend in Dallas to cheer on the hogs in the Arkansas vs. A&M football game (Payton has since been fully converted into a hogs fan). Payton had cancelled not only one, but two flights within the same trip to Austin to extend her intended weekend visit to a 10 day adventure - not a goodbye, a see you soon! Brian and Payton decided to spend the holidays that year driving back-and-forth between St. Louis and Springfield. The weekly holiday trips to their hometowns were perfect to maximum family time before Payton officially moved to Austin on Jan 1, 2022. No more long distance, woohoo!! In March of 2022, Payton got a new job which required her to relocate back to Springfield, MO. The Research Project Manager position was not an opportunity that Payton wanted to pass up and Brian immediately suggested that they get an apartment together in Springfield. They quickly moved in to the infamous 55+ community apartment complex in April. They made so many great memories living at Veranda Vistas and their neighbors played a big part in that (plus the pickle ball court and pool helped). They spent countless hours on summer floats down the Buffalo River, taco Tuesdays, traveling to weddings (a total of 10 that year), enjoying each other's family's presence, cooking delicious meals, dancing, and most of all laughing! In September of 2024, Brian was offered a job as a Senior Software Engineer in Kansas City, MO. They happily moved to the Crossroad's District in KC on October 24th and threw a Halloween house-warming party the following weekend (Happy Birthday Brian!).

They just turned in their keys, saying goodbye to their studio apartment with quite the view of Downtown KC. They loved their walking access to a variety of restaurants, bars, and fun things to do. However, they are happy to announce that they just bought their FIRST HOME in Lee's Summit, MO (woohoo!!)! They are very excited about the new patio and extra space, really looking forward to their future in the new neighborhood! Thanks for reading this far :)

Includes information about the hotel block, photo gallery