Tara and I met one day at Celebration of Life in Baytown, Texas, the church we both call home. Two of our dear friends orchestrated the whole thing! We were both asked to help volunteer with the youth at our church. Although I was a little hesitant at first, the proposed promise of meeting "another girl my age" who was also participating really sweetened the deal for me! HAH! I went from feeling unqualified to feeling immensely excited at the opportunity to meet this "mystery" woman. The following Sunday at Church, our mutual friend introduced us and then walked away, leaving us alone to talk! It was the best five minutes! Later that evening, the youth met at the home of our sweet wingman and wingwoman. Tara and I sat down at the table in their kitchen and talked for hours! Needless to say, the poor youth group did not get very much attention from us that night! HAHA! Over the course of the next few weeks we had missed each other at church. Come February, the next event I made was the Super Bowl Party thrown for our youth. After another incredible evening connecting with Tara, I still failed to get her phone number. (Nobody wants to be the creepy guy from church- right?!) Well, this is where that very same mutual friend stepped in, thankfully! She interrogated me about my thoughts and feelings toward Tara and then gave me her phone number. PRAISE GOD! She had done all the hard work for me!! HAHA! That same week, Tara and I started our journey together one afternoon with a coffee date before Wednesday night church. I felt like we immediately hit it off! Soon after, lingering in the parking lot after church services quickly became our favorite thing. We would meet before church to have little park dates and dinner dates. We shared books and podcasts and loved learning about one another. On two separate occasions, I chased Tara down after Wednesday night services to share some of the fresh farm eggs and elk meat I had. She returned the gesture with baked goods and chili- it was love at first bite! Eventually we started our courtship!

Knowing marriage was in our future, Tara and I started searching for a home to buy together since both of our leases were going to expire before the first of the year. There had been quite a bit of "future" talks between us at this point, but I'm almost certain I caught her by surprise! Our home buying process had been riddled with disappointment; each home we looked at seemed to be worse than the one before and took us further away from our desired dream home. But The Lord had a good thing in store for us! We saw this quaint bungalow listed that met Tara's only requirement of having "charm" (HA!) and my requirements for having a good sized yard and a garage. We felt God's hand on it as it was move-in ready and newly renovated. Not to mention it was only five minutes away from our church! We prayed, made a respectful offer, and waited patiently for a response. Our offer was accepted over two others, and the owners mentioned they couldn't imagine selling the home to anyone besides us! They mentioned we were just too cute! HAH! The twenty-eighth of June was the day we closed on our home! After a full morning of signing paperwork, we got our keys! I planned to propose as we walked into our new home, but the timing just wasn't right. We went to have lunch and pack up a few things in my apartment. Before we started packing and getting sweaty, Tara asked, "Is there anything else I need to be cute for today? Or should I change?" My poor sweet girl! Of course I told her "Nope! We can make a few loads over to the new home". I could tell she was disappointed as this hinted at nothing else exciting happening this day. (Side note: Tara knew I had the engagement ring already, so she was *patiently* anticipating the big moment!) After a few long hours of hard work, we were tired and sweaty and weary from the moving process. We reached a stopping point and planned to go have dinner at my Mom's house. On the way out the door to meet my Mom for dinner. I stalled and went to grab the ring- it was now or never!! HA! As she walked out the door I stayed behind and kneeled down to "tie my shoe" and waited for what seemed like an eternity for her to turn around!! Eventually Tara came back into the house to find me. As she walked through the front door of our new home, I was still "tying my shoes" and mustered up the words to say "Tara, will you marry me?!" We laughed and cried and called some of our loved ones. We finally made it to my Mom's for a delicious homemade meal and CAKE! Praise God for how our sweet day unfolded! Can't wait to see you all in Rusk on November 18th!