Circa 2015...

It was a weekend in May and Carly and her friends had just graduated college. Carly's college roommate and best friend, Caroline, happened to be my step-siblings' cousin...(we're kind-of, but not actually related). Regardless, it scored me an invite to Caroline's grandma's lake house for the weekend to celebrate their graduation. I'd met Carly at this same lake house the year before for Caroline's birthday....I was interested, she was oblivious. One year later and we found ourselves back in the same place, and I'll admit, I was waiting for her. I played dumb by asking Caroline if she had any single friends, and as she named a few of the girls, I waited for her to say Carly's name. At last she said, "Oh and there's Carly- everybody loves Carly".

I played along and said "Oh yeah, I think I remember her" and asked if she was coming this weekend. Caroline said yes, but that she was probably coming later on Sunday.

I had to work on Monday, but I was willing to wait.

She finally arrived on Sunday afternoon.

I can still remember her walking down the hill to the dock and thinking "this is my chance".

Having an "in" with Caroline definitely didn't hurt, and she set up a tandem tube ride to get the conversation started for us.

We hit it off right away, and shared lots of laughs on the lake.

We made our way up to the kitchen for dinner, and Caroline's grandmother gave me the push that I needed.

She asked if I thought Carly was pretty, and I responded

"I think she's gorgeous".

Carly's face immediately turned bright red. I wasn't sure if I might have overstepped, but as the night progressed I made my move while we were down at the fire pit, and asked her to dinner. We set up a date in Atlanta for the next week. The next thing I knew, it was 2:00 AM and I was realizing that work was only a few short hours away. Carly sweetly sent me off with a hug and a cup of potato salad.

I couldn't stop grinning ear to ear like an idiot the entire drive back to Atlanta.

It had been the best day, and little did I know I had just set up my first date with my future wife.

C&Z

Our Wedding