Bailey entered my life during a time of pivotal change and growth. I was 12 years old and my family had just moved to Dallas from south Florida. Everything around me was so new and unfamiliar. I still remember the day that I first saw her in the middle school hallway because I had a blush-y sinking feeling that was unforgettable. It was more the idea of her that entered my life that day, because we wouldn’t actually meet each other for another 10 years.

Fast forward to August 2019 and I see on Bailey’s social media that she had just moved to Austin. Of course, the picture she posted was of her beautiful painting of Jimi Hendrix. I was enamored, so I gathered the courage to message her. “Hey I don’t even know if you know who I am, but we went to high school together.” The next thing I know I’m taking her and her sweet golden retreiver, Buddy, to a dog park date where we find out how much we have in common with each other. I fell in love, but if we’re really being honest I fell in love with her 10 years before that day.

The next years of our lives were filled with traveling, concerts, great food and new experiences in our 20’s. It was always so easy to be by her side, as it is to this day. We built a core family together here in Austin with our cats, Gypsy and Jasper. I’m so excited to see her grow as a person over the course of her life, in her career, into motherhood, whatever may come. I’ll stand by her side with a warm grin on my face for the rest of my life.

“Hey, I don’t know if you know who I am, but we went to high school together and I'm actually also in Austin as well” via insta DM from Casey. After receiving that message, I immediately stalked his instagram (cause duh) and I was very intrigued.

Growing up, on spring break both of our families would individually go on ski trips to Santa Fe. Casey’s grandmother was my brother’s math teacher. We both went to Camp Longhorn for multiple years and our terms missed each other by just a few days. We went to the same middle school and high school, while never having any classes together and never speaking yet having a few mutual friends. Casey signed my yearbook in 6th grade and neither of us found this out until this year. We both went on Semester at Sea during college, only it was a year apart from one another. We had so many chances to meet, but somehow our paths never crossed. It truly feels like the universe orchestrated our coming together at just the right moment. It really was just meant to be.

The night I came home from meeting Casey for the first time, I called a friend and said, “I’m marrying this guy”. She of course told me “Okay, calm down, you JUST met him”. But it really is true, when you know you know and my minds never wavered since. I never knew something could feel so right and I never knew love could feel so good. He’s continuously been everything I never knew I needed, and more. Forever to go!