Adrian and I “met” at Because of the Times 2024. “Met” has to be in quotations because it took a little help…

I already knew about Adie when she came to BOTT. In our Pentecostal bubble, I had seen Adie on Instagram and she obviously caught my eye. I came to BOTT hoping she would be there and that we would cross paths.

To my amazement, she was in the lobby right when I walked through the entrance on the first night. I had talked a big game in my head, but when I saw her, all that game was nowhere to be found. I wasted an opportunity to introduce myself, but I hoped for a second chance.

My second chance came on my last night of the conference. I was walking down the stairs to leave a night service, and I saw Adie and her friends right in front of us walking to the same exit. I was stunned that another opportunity presented itself to meet her, but I let it pass me by again. I was frustrated at myself and talked to my parents about Adie when we got in the car. Since we were leaving BOTT a day early, I went to the restaurant thinking I had wasted my last chance.

When we got to the restaurant, I was absolutely shocked to see who was seated at the table directly across from us. There’s no way I was going to get another chance. At this point, it seemed like more than coincidence to cross paths with Adie this many times. I had to introduce myself.

I sat at the table trying to work up the courage. At this point, everyone at the table knew about how I felt and they were pushing me to strike up a conversation. But as much as I hate to admit it, I was still too scared to make a move.

Eventually, my Dad decided that he would intervene. As Adie walked past us to the bathroom, Dad flagged her down and said, “aren’t you Myrick Johnson’s daughter?” Our Dad’s went to college together, so this stopped Adie for a moment. While listening to Dad and Adie talk, my former pastor Jon Moran jumped in. “Have you met Dallas?” he said - obviously trying to get something going between us two. We exchanged a few words, but sadly the conversation came to a close. Adie went back to her table and we continued on with our meal.

Adie and I technically “met” that night (with a lot of help), but I left the restaurant frustrated that I didn’t even try to express how I felt. The next day, we were back home in Lake Charles getting back to business as usual.


After a few weeks of talking after meeting, Dallas & I went on our first date in Houston. It was the best first date that I’ve ever been on. Dallas was so handsome and so sweet. We went out for a few weekends in a row and I kept liking him so much more after every time we went out.

He asked me to be his girlfriend and we started liking each other a lot. After a few weeks of dating I just knew that things were different with Dallas. I knew from the beginning that he was a very sincere and caring person. I could also tell that he was serious about me. Dating Dallas was a breath of fresh air and I love constantly learning new things about him.

In October of this year Dallas and I took a trip to New Orleans. Dallas told me that he had a dinner reservation planned for us one of the nights. He told me that we were going to stop at City Park before heading to dinner. We walked around the park and then we walked up on a bridge. We went to the top of the bridge and to my surprise, Dallas got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! That was the best, “YES!” of my life. Shocked and amazed we went to the place I thought we were having dinner at and all of a sudden our parents and my sister ran out to greet us! Dallas had planned the most perfect engagement ever!

Now we are happily busy planning our wedding! I look at my count down every day! I still cannot believe that I get to marry the most thoughtful and amazing guy in the world. We cannot wait to spend our big day with the people we love! The countdown is ON!