WE'RE GETTING MARRIED

The Goal: Visit Brooke her first weekend of college. As we embarked Pepe, Dom, Stephen, Joe and I had no clue what we were getting into. We were so excited we left at 1:30 in the morning stopping at Chumash on our way down to San Diego. We arrived when the sun came up, we couldn’t wait to see Brooke and meet her new friends. They were not as excited to meet us. This girl wearing sweats, a t-shirt, glasses, and her hair in a bun looked at me (not happily) and said “I’ll check him in," it was Kiarra. All the roommates and my now groomsmen hung out all day. I was instantly drawn to Kiarra regardless of my first impression. I told Dom that I liked her and he did what Dom does best, played wing man. After enjoying our weekend it was time to go home. I very awkwardly asked Kiarra for her number and we left. I was sitting next to Stephen on the drive back and I told him, “I’m going to marry that girl,” “sure” he responded. After hundreds of phone calls and dramatic texts (Kiarra) I decided that she couldn’t live in Texas (sorry Bekah). We made the beautiful drive through Texas into the rolling hills of New Mexico, passing the green Arizona and then finally arrived home. It was here that we realized we were truly meant for each other. As many of you know Kiarra needs to watch the sunset at least once a week. It was here that I asked her to marry me. I knew that from the first day that I met her we were going to be together, told ya Steve.

It was my first week at San Diego State (Fall 2011) and one of my roommates, Brooke (bridesmaid), had a group of friends visiting for the weekend. There was a SDSU vs Cal Poly football game on Saturday so her friends made the drive from Arroyo Grande. The guys arrived at 7 am ready to start the day. I’m not a morning person so I was not excited about waking up early to let them into the dorms. At the football game Dom (groomsmen) kept whispering “Cody Portwood” into my ear on repeat. I thought Cody was funny and cute however I am slow to warm up so I didn’t think much about it. Later that night we all went to dinner and some of my friends from home were joining us. I was introducing all of my friends to Brooke’s friends and I totally forgot Cody’s name. He was sitting by me at dinner and let me know he didn’t want to sit by someone who couldn’t remember his name (lol). Cody and I talked for hours after dinner. Right before the guys left SDSU Cody asked for my number, we began texting that day. Texts turned into phone calls and Facetimes. Cody Portwood was a name I was never going to forget again. Fast forward six years and we were still talking almost every day. I was living in Austin when we decided we should give our relationship a real shot. Cody flew to Austin to drive me back to SLO. A uhaul towing my car made for an extra long road trip. We got to SLO and our relationship has been growing ever since. Excited for forever with my best friend!