We’re Getting Married!!!

Cooper and Grace met in September 2021 while they both lived in Manhattan, KS. Cooper was stationed at Fort Riley working in the United States Army and Grace was attending veterinary school at Kansas State University. They first met at Dirty Dawgs Saloon where they both showed up to meet a mutual friend and enjoy a little country dancing. Grace was swept off her feet with Cooper's Texas charm and dancing skills. Although they hit it off and went on a quite a few dates at that time, the relationship fizzled out as they were both busy with their own lives. After a few months though, Cooper saw Grace out one night and tried to rekindle the romance. Grace was unsure since they did not work out the first time, so she turned Cooper down. About a week later, on February 4th, 2022, Grace and a few friends were out on the town and happened to meet up with Cooper at Dirty Dawgs once again. After an initial dance, Grace fully intended on ditching Cooper there and continuing her evening with friends, but before Grace could stop her, Grace's friend blurted out an invitation to Cooper to come along with them too. At the next bar they landed, a country song came on and Cooper picked Grace up so that they were at eye level and spun her around in the middle of the dance floor, sang to her, and danced with her like no one was watching. As she looked into his blue eyes, that moment is when she fell for him all over again and they began their relationship. Not long after they started dating again and were enjoying being a new couple, Cooper got the news that he was being deployed overseas for an unknown amount of time with just three weeks’ notice. They spent all the time they could together before he left, but both were uncertain about the future. Cooper and Grace made it through an 11-month deployment and continued to grow their relationship during that time with lots of care packages, wordle competitions, and FaceTime dates. Cooper returned from deployment on January 31, 2023, and they have been inseparable ever since. They share a great love and respect for eachother and for their dogs Arya and Sully. Cooper proposed to Grace on a trip to Texas on February 17, 2024. He got down on one knee and pulled out a Ring Pop first before pulling out a real ring, as they have had a running joke that Grace would say yes even if it was a Ring Pop, as long as it was blue raspberry flavored of course! Their engagement was perfectly imperfect as Cooper never actually said the words "Will you marry me?" and Grace said, "This Ring Pop is not blue raspberry!" long before actually saying yes. They are both very excited to start the next stage of their lives together in Albuquerque, NM. Cooper has already started his job there working for the United States Space Force and Grace will be joining him in May working as a Small Animal Emergency Veterinarian.