Her Version: It’s Super Bowl 2021 and my friend Dayo invites me to his party. There was a glimmer of hope that the pandemic was ending and I was ready to be around people. I had met all of his friends in Austin before…at least so I thought, but then in strolled T.O. I remember thinking he was cute and wondering why I’d never met him. After the game, we played girls vs. guys Taboo. Anyone who knows me knows I get super competitive and my team ALWAYS wins! Then we all went home and I thought that was that. I got a text from Dayo the next day saying T.O wanted my number. When T.O reached out, I of course had to gloat about my Taboo win. The conversation flowed effortlessly and he asked me to have dinner with him that weekend. Sometimes first dates are a complete bust, but this was the complete opposite. Three hours flew by and there was promise for date 2 — then Snowpocolypse happened and the city shut down. From no power to melting snow to flush toilets, we didn’t really talk that week. But after the sun came out, in came a text from T.O asking if we could hang out again. “YASS!!” T.O has shown me what it means to be pursued with intention and helps me see the beauty in each day. He’s handsome and funny, but what I love most is his heart for Christ and the way he shows up for people. God is so faithful for bringing us together! His Version: Remi and I met at our friend Dayo's SuperBowl party in 2021. A few days later, I got her number and she proceeded to clown me for losing the game of Taboo we played at the party. I will not confirm nor deny if we actually lost. After some more witty back and forth, I asked her out. She said her favorite type of food was Thai. It's mine too. Game on. On our first date, I told Remi that I would've loved to take her to Mai Thai - my favorite place in Austin. But it's not really a date spot. She then looked up at me and said, "Oh, Mai Thai? That place sucks!” I choked on my water. But I loved that she could tell it like it is — even if she was TOTALLY wrong and would later come to her senses. We spent the rest of the date in a deep conversation about our upbringing, faith, and biggest fears in life. Most of what I love about Remi I saw on our first few dates. She's understanding, supportive, and has a smile that can light up a room. I still love our deep conversations - even when we lose sleep because we can’t end them. But most of all, I love that she's willing to adapt herself to God instead of the other way around. I thank God for sending her to me!

I’m the hardest person to surprise because I analyze EVERYTHING! After T.O and I talked about wanting to get married, there were a few weekends where I for sure thought it was happening and was so wrong. One weekend, he told me he wanted us to go see a throwback movie at a drive-in theater we’d been to on one of our first dates. When we pulled in, I noticed we were the only car there. I questioned why and he told me it probably wasn’t popular (lol). Minutes later, T.O’s face appeared on the big screen and my heart jumped. He made a video titled “25 steps to get a wife”, and rented out the theater to play it for me. Each step of the video highlighted a clip from milestones together - from him teaching me how to drive stick shift to traveling the world for our friends’ weddings. One of the steps was “ask her parents to marry her”. I had no idea T.O had gone to PHX to ask my parents “for my hand” in person. I’m still impressed that he was able to keep it from me. He even recorded a video of them wishing us well and included that in the proposal! After step 25, he asked me the best question anyone has and through happy tears, I said YESSSS!! Our close friends came out of hiding, bearing gifts of flowers and champagne. It was the most thoughtful proposal I could’ve hoped for!