From New York to Texas and everywhere inbetween

Girl sees boy on dating app, girl messages boy to make fun of him for calling Kings Point "United States Merchant Marine Academy", world shuts down in global pandemic, girl and boy have endless zoom dates. Boy picks girl up and brings her back to NYC during said pandemic, girl agrees to move to Texas approximately 7 months later. A classic love story for the ages we have all heard a million times before. The rest is history, right? Tom and Tess met on leap day, or should we say "matched" on leap day, 2/29/2020, about 3 weeks before the world shut down. Tess noticed that Tom went to Kings Point, the same small service academy her father went to. Between the Kings Point sign that made him feel like home, and his dreamy surfer vibes, she was hooked. Tom fell in love with Tess the moment they met, or maybe it was during their first time Facetime, or it could have been when he saw they matched. Whenever the moment, his life completely and totally changed after Tess stole his breath. Something funny happened in that moment, every single day of his life became better than the one before. For reference, Tom was living in a Craigslist apartment with 3 strangers he met on the internet when Tess and Tom matched. Tess is - by far Tom's favorite stranger he ever met on the internet. 5 apartments, 4 years, 3 boroughs, 2 states and 2,000 miles later, the summer Tess and Tom spent together in their Rockaway apartment was the best summer of his life. After an amazing summer of fun in the Rockaway sun, Tess and Tom took another huge step forward and moved to Houston, Texas together. In September 2023, Tom surprised Tess by moving her first European trip forward by one day, booking a gorgeous hotel in Paris, and telling her it was all a spur of the moment deal he got. Tess' biggest tip off that he might be proposing was when the calmest traveler to ever exist (Tom) seemed a little nervous as we trekked from Houston to Paris. When checking into the hotel, the concierge calmly commented that "we celebrating on this trip, right?" to which Tom replied (excitedly or nervously) "Yes, celebrating OUR LOVE.", to try and throw Tess off the proposal trail.. Tom whisked Tess away to walk around Paris, and ended the stroll back at our gorgeous hotel, in a beautiful garden, with the Eiffel tower in view. He got down on one knee and proposed, ready to start forever, together. Texas became where our love story and our lives together truly flourished, and we will always be grateful for the yeehaw lovin' state. We can't wait to share Texas with you all (still can't seem to replace "you guys" with "y'all") and get down together at our wedding! Your love has built our love, and we are forever grateful for that. Time to celebrate!