We're getting married!

Both of us growing up in Fayette County, we've known each other for years! Neither of us ever thought we'd end up together, yet here we are - 7 years later, planning our wedding. That's what you call destiny, huh? Our friendship began at a mutual friends house (Shout out to Tray-here) but we didn't think much of it at first. It was easy and we always had the best conversations. We started texting over several months, and before we knew it, we were inseparable. Destin asked Destiny to be his girlfriend May 21, 2016, went on our first vacation together in June of 2016 and the rest was history.

As if our names aren't ironic enough, our entire life have so many similarities. Beginning with our birth dates: Destiny's is Oct. 3 and Destin's is Oct. 31. Shortly after we began our relationship, we both went through very challenging hardships. Destin's mother passed away unexpectedly and then shortly after Destiny's father passed away. It was a hard tribulation that we both faced individually, but we found ourselves finding comfort in each other. We went to church together, prayed for each other, and always did our very best to lift each other up on the hard days. It's the foundation of relying on God that we built our relationship on. We learned to grow together and through our adversity, we found a way to prosper, to overcome, and most importantly to grow closer to God which led us to grow closer as a couple. We both were raised on similar values & situations: small households, southern home-cooked meals, and good ol' country living. We didn't have much, but we knew together we could have it all. Like all relationships, it certainly was never perfect; but we always gave our all for each other and never gave up. We had to learn to grow up together and through the process we have both been each other's biggest support system. We've faced many trials and tribulations together, but we can without a doubt say love conquers all. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7

At this point we had been dating for 5.5 years and would often get asked the famous question "when are y'all getting married?" We would talk about marriage often, and Destin would always say he had no idea how he would surprise Destiny because she's nosy (although I like to consider it ~curious~ hehe). He told me he would do it when we were out of town because he knew I always had my nails done prior to any trips and that was a must! A few months prior to Oct. 19, we went to the beach and I was certain he would do it there... but he didn't. We had a trip planned for October to visit Knoxville, TN for the Ole Miss vs. Vols game - Hotty Toddy! And then we were traveling to Gatlinburg for a few days afterwards. It was the last day of our trip and we went to visit The SkyBridge at sunset. I was convinced that the infamous proposal was not going to happen on this trip; The sun had already set and we had already explored pretty much every section of the SkyBridge. I was getting antsy to leave, but for some reason Destin kept stalling!! I found out later that he was nervous of the overwhelming crowd surrounding us the entire time we were there. At the perfect time, Destin took my hand and said, "Are you ready to do this?" and got down on one knee to ask me to be his forever. I, of course, said "YES!.. finally" while the crowd around us hoot and hollered. I never understood why people cry in this moment, but I have perfect understanding of it now. All the feels hit you right in the heart, and we both teared up and were so happy to officially plan our life together forever! Our support system have been so amazing! We can't thank all of you enough for giving us the support and love that we've always been surrounded with throughout our journey. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in Destin, FL!