I met Nick in February 2012 at a Greek basketball game at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I can admit that I saw him first…but mostly because he was jogging around the gym veerrryyy slowly but very animated (tongue hanging out his mouth, head bobbing from side to side as if he was doing something). I thought he was just a goofy boy. I don't think 20 minutes had passed after I first saw him before he was getting slightly beaten up by my friends, Dibo and Jade. If you know Nick, you know he likes to talk trash, so naturally, I went to help my girls, and that's when I realized he's not only goofy but cute. But my friends and I didn't stay too long and left soon after the game started.

Shortly after we met, we started a "Twitter boyfriend/ girlfriend" relationship that existed only online; we flirted through DMs and subtweets and @’ed each other when we felt bold. Our friend circles often intersected, so our online flirting was usually accompanied by commentary from our friends. Then, one day, he sent me a DM saying, "Here's my number. Use it or lose it." Clearly, I didn't lose it, lol. From there, the flirting crossed from Twitter to text messages and phone calls. However, we kept things platonic because we were young and in college. We called each other randomly, after personal life events, or at the end of our nights, and had conversations that had me laying in bed with my legs on the wall and butterflies in my stomach. I could tell we had something special, but we were young and in college, so I kept things between us at a safe distance. He would always ask me to come over and "teach him to cook" or show him how to do "some ridiculous of an excuse to see me." To protect myself, I sent him texts with step-by-step directions instead 😂We had done a horrible job at friend-zoning each other; it was overwhelming and frustrating because we were more than friends.

I moved back home from Carbondale in May 2012 (if you know, you know), which finally, and annoyingly, forced us to acknowledge our feelings for each other. We kept in contact over the summer and went on our first date to Cracker Barrel and a movie in August. Soon after that, Nick invited me over to hang out before he drove back to Carbondale, but he didn't think this through because it was his brother Stephen's trunk party, and I wound up meeting several family members and friends.

After spending that time together, we realized we undoubtedly liked each other, and there was potential for a relationship. So we eventually concluded that being young and in college wasn't cutting it anymore, but still not starting an official relationship just yet. Between August and December of 2012, we saw each other every chance we got. In October, we encountered a minor hiccup, and me being me, I stopped talking to Nick for a few days. Around the third day of no responses from me, Nick sent a text saying, "You got me messed up," I was nervous and excited! "My man, my man, my man" was coming back for me, and it sent my best friend Karissa and me into a frenzy on how to respond, but it clearly worked! We probably saw 10-15 movies during that time and spent hours in my PT Cruiser talking. I made him take me to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2, even though my best friend Clarissa and I had seen it the week before. It was a test, and he passed lol. We also spent the entire Thanksgiving break together; we even went to the movies to see Lincoln on Thanksgiving night to spend time together. It was a horrible movie. We talked the whole time and eventually left and sat in my car, talking for a few more hours. That night, we had our first kiss 🥰

I moved to Houston on January 6, 2013. We knew the move was coming, so despite all the dates and time spent together, we didn't want to officially start a relationship because only crazy people start a relationship while being 800 miles apart. But on January 12, nearly a year after we met, friend-zoned each other, and eventually started dating, and a week after I moved to another state, we couldn't keep fighting the inevitable and made it official!

We made it through 6 months of long-distance with Facetimes, phone calls, texts, and a plane ride or two so I could finally cook for him. I moved home in June, we moved in together in August, and we've been locked in ever since 🤞🏽.

We've been there for each other for the highest of highs, and lowest of lows, and everything in between. We've grown up together and learned to love and choose each other continuously. We've built a bond that only gets stronger as the years pass. Our love is personified by our daughter, Bradley Sayre Simpson. The path we've ventured off and made our own has been beautifully imperfect, but we couldn't imagine walking alongside anyone else. And now we're taking another, much-awaited step in our life's journey together and will become husband and wife on January 12, our 12th anniversary!

A&N