After graduating college in May 2018, I moved back home to Dallas, TX to start my career and adjust to the new norms and expectations of “adulthood”. Over the next handful of months, my goal was to settle in rather quickly, make new friends and earn an income to support myself and pay the bills. While my intentions were not to start dating again until after this big transition, one of my best friends from college who was living in Dallas at the time convinced me to download Bumble and give it a try (thank you, Donna!).

As I stepped outside of my comfort zone and navigated different conversations, some normal and some very strange, I quickly realized that dating apps were not for me and that I wanted to meet someone the “old-fashioned” kind of way. But then in January of 2019 right before I decided to delete the app, I matched with Aaron and things shifted. Although I have never admitted this before, it wasn’t just his smile and eyes that caught my attention. It was more-so the tattoos that sparked my curiosity and really made me swipe right. As someone who has been described as a perfectionist, goody two-shoes and teacher’s pet, I had never dated anyone with tattoos before and was curious as to what it would be like (I know, silly right?).

Using a catchy opening question, I started the conversation with Aaron but quickly realized he was much more than his looks. His personality, his character, his sense of humor and his loyalty to his friends and family amongst many more admirable traits were undeniably evident, and that is something I have and always will cherish. While we dated for a year before taking a break, we realized a bit later that it was the right person, just the wrong time. After months of working independently to mature, grow and change for the better, Aaron and I reconnected and have been inseparable ever since. As I like to describe it, our relationship hasn’t been perfect, our path hasn’t been linear, and our love story hasn’t always been a fairytale, but that doesn’t change the fact that our relationship is ours and is exactly where it’s supposed to be, which in my opinion, makes all the adventures, memories, and unique experiences we get to enjoy together that much more worthwhile.

So, despite the path it took to get to where we are, we feel truly blessed by Bumble (also referred to it by us as #BBB) and are so excited to celebrate our marriage with our closest friends and family who have supported us every step of the way! Thanks for being a part of our journey!

Where do I even begin? It all started back in January 2019 when we matched on a dating app called Bumble. After a few messages exchanged, we agreed to meet somewhere casual for our first date which was at Standard Pour, in Uptown Dallas. To say it was the best first date I’ve ever been on would be a huge understatement. Conversations were effortless to have, and we were able to open up pretty easily with one another about our upbringings, which we quickly found out to be pretty similar. I began to immediately think to myself, I’ve met my wife. I’ve never had so many funny, serious, goofy, quirky moments with someone within a 2-hour span before in my life that resulted in me smiling and laughing from ear to ear.

On the next date, we went to a Mavs game and Caroline got to see the real side of me when attending a sporting event. Loud and obnoxious haha! But after the game, we walked back to my place and just got to chatting in my kitchen which then prompted an important question, a question of if she really is my person. That question was, do you put ranch on your pizza? She nervously answered, yes… and I responded, “Oh hell yes!”. In that moment I realized this is in fact my person. Followed by that were many more dates and I want to take you all the way to date #5. I’m sure you’re wondering why date #5 that’s so specific? Let me tell you why. After each date before this one concluded, I would lean in with a soft kiss in which Caroline would quickly turn away from me. So, on the 5th date we finally experienced our first kiss and let me tell you it was well worth the wait. It was a moment that I’ll never forget for as long as I live and the rest is history.