Zack and I met freshman year at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, crossing paths on a few occasions during our time in the same student ministry. Our story truly began in Colorado Springs, March of 2021, on a spring break trip with 8 of our mutual friends. I didn't know Zack at all, but it was clear he was well-loved by everyone there. As the week went on, I began to notice that he would hang around me on hikes and during meals. He didn’t say much, but always offered me his snacks during hikes and his ice cream when we were at our AirBnb. It snowed one night and I remember the girls betting on which of the boys would be up in the morning to shovel the snow out of our driveway. We woke up to see that he was already well on his way, and Rylin saying "Somebody marry that man!" Thanks for the great idea, Rylin!!

Fast forward to our last night in Colorado, when we all went out to dinner. Of course, Zack sat down next to me and we shared a dessert after our meal. It was an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. At that point, it was no secret to anyone that we had started to develop feelings for each other.

Back in Conway, my car had a flat tire from a slow leak. I was carrying around a portable air compressor to fill up the tire every time I drove on it, but after being away for a week, it was almost completely flat. I was heading to Fort Smith the next day to get it replaced, so Zack offered to come over and give it a quick temporary fix before I drove the 2 hours. Turns out we were living in the same apartment complex! We were only a few buildings apart the whole time. After a few group hang outs and stolen glances, he asked me to play disc golf with him and the rest is sweet, sweet history.

I remember meeting Caitlyn for the first time while I was playing a game of Risk. I thought she was pretty but well I didn’t know anything else about her. That is the extent of it. I get very focused during board games. The first time that we really started to talk to each other was in the process of planning a spring break trip with our friends to Colorado Springs. I have never been much of a talker and I knew that I was joining the army so at that point I was sure that I was not going to get into a relationship until much later. Well that didn’t happen. I was just drawn to Caitlyn from the start. She liked country music, she was funny, and kind. I had started to like her. This was not in my plan. I was content to be single for the foreseeable future but she blew that right out of the water. The whole trip I remember just trying to sit in the same car as her and trying to sit next to her at meals. I just wanted to get to know her and try to figure out if she was interested in me too. So we finished the trip and on the way back it was definitely clear to everyone that we had feelings. Then turns out she had been driving around on a leaking tire for like weeks. Which was crazy. I had a can of fix-a-flat in my car for some reason so this was the perfect opportunity. I told her I would come and put it in her tire before she left for Fort Smith. No, I did not pull any moves. I think I said two sentences and then left. I’ll never forget when I asked her to hangout with just me (a week or so after) and it was April Fool's Day. I was sitting with Justin Linck talking about all the feelings that had been developing and she texted me back and said no. My heart dropped just for her to text me a minute later saying April Fool's. The rest is history. She is more than I could ever have dreamed of and I am so thankful that we get to step into this next phase of life together.