Cassidy and I met in the Fall of 2019 while we were both studying at UT Austin. We had had friends in common for years, but somehow hadn’t met each other yet. We’d even spent the previous summer in Grapevine at the same time while I interned and she lifeguarded. Luckily for us, our friends Guy and Caitlin decided we had to meet. We protested we weren’t looking for anything, but they insisted. They invited us both on a trip to Port Aransas. We were meant to leave for Port A on Saturday, but there was a house party Friday night - we ended up meeting there and talking for hours. Cassidy worked as a nanny at the time and I’ve always figured being the only male nanny at the party cinched it for me. The conversation started by talking about chasing after little kids, and we just couldn’t stop talking after that.

I drove us to Port Aransas the next day and we both remember trying not to make eye contact in the mirror. We spent the whole weekend on the beach with Guy, Caitlin, and Seb. We played games and burned in the sun during the day - at night, we sat on the beach and Cassidy tried to get me to remember constellations. We agreed to go on a real first date when we got home. I was exhausted after driving us home and fell asleep for a full day and didn’t text her. Cassidy panicked. Luckily, I woke up. We finished out the year playing putt putt golf badly, going to drive-in movies, and starting to officially date.

2020 followed, and we planned a spring break trip to Prague to volunteer on a farm. When international travel was halted two days before we left, we pivoted to Hawaii, staying at a friend’s house and getting rained on at the beach while everything closed down. When we got home, Cassidy’s family sent us to her grandparent’s house in Bluffdale to hide from the pandemic. Seven months into dating and we were spending everyday together. It was so peaceful. Everyday we would wake up, make tea, and walk Scout, Cassidy’s family’s dog who was keeping us company. We’d do our school work during the day and then come up with something to do to fill the time. Campfires, fishing, Brian running because he read David Goggins, Cassidy cooking dutch babies, and whatever other random things came to mind. We cried when the time there came to an end. After I graduated, we went back to Austin - Cassidy worked as a nanny that summer while I Doordashed and I waited for my job at Accenture to start. Cassidy’s friends and I hosted a surprise birthday party for her. We did our first big road trip together and drove to Colorado. We did long hikes to icy lakes, went sandboarding, and just wandered around. As the year ended, I got to have my first Thanksgiving with Cassidy’s family (shoutout cognac).

2021 started off with a terrifying road trip for me. Nick, Seb, and I drove with the big Texas freeze all the way down from Colorado, spinning out the whole way. We made it sound so fun that Cassidy came on her first ski trip with us a couple weeks later. Skiing was great for her, but I ended up tearing my ACL at the end of the season. In the summer, we went to Malibu for a week, continuing our tradition of staying in tiny homes in fun places. I started the beginnings of Intern.House soon after and we spent so much wonderful time wandering around Austin with Geoffrey, Hannah, and Gavin. Cassidy graduated with a degree in Speech Pathology and to celebrate we went to Barcelona and Madrid with friends.

2022 was a whirlwind. Throughout the year we went to Vegas for the first time, went to our first wedding together (shout out Jane!!), and went to Chicago with Cassidy’s family. Cassidy did child life internships at children’s hospitals in West Virginia, where we enjoyed the music and not much else, and Cincinnati, which we actually loved. After West Virginia and before Cincinnati, there was a little break where I convinced her to come to Colombia for a month. Sam and Kate showed us around and friends and family came to visit and struggle with street food. While in Colombia, Cassidy was bored and started playing this phone game that was just like programming. So she started programming. In Cincinnati she decided to make the big career switch, wanting to work remotely and travel more. She got into a bootcamp for programming called Codesmith. We finished out the year with lots of Texas football (shout out to Alan for holding Bijan’s sign) and moved into our first apartment together at the Laurel. Cassidy began the GRIND.

In 2023, Cassidy was out here hustling - Codesmith was tough and then she was on the job hunt till March. Meanwhile, I traveled to Vietnam with my dad and Justin and I built half of a cabin. Cassidy worked, things were quiet and in July a “trip back to Port A” was upon us. Cassidy had no idea what was coming. Her mom, Ava, and I picked out the ring together and we snuck people into Port Aransas from all over the world (by that I mean Sam flew from Switzerland). We went back to the beach, I kneeled in the water, we almost dropped the ring, and we were engaged. That fall brought more UT football games, a bachelor party, and a beautiful wedding for Nick and Lauren. Then we hosted a giveaway with friends and gave away as much of our stuff as we could and moved out of Austin. We began our housesitting journey in Richmond with 3 little Shih Tzus and then drove to Oregon to watch 2 Vizslas, one of the most badly planned travel endeavors we’d done yet. Cassidy was living her remote working dream and we wanted to take full advantage.

2024, here we are. We’ve continued to housesit and travel. We lived in Sicily and Switzerland for most of January visiting Syracusa, Palermo, and Taormina then seeing Sam in Zurich. February through April we were in Denver housesitting two blind cats and struggling to ski and snowboard. Then April to June we were in Seattle with a Golden Retriever and then a German Shepherd. After, we bounced around Boston and New York seeing some of you, catching Broadway shows and mid comedy shows, and developing a greater appreciation for public transit. Finally, we hung out in Minnesota for a family reunion and had a blast learning to water ski. Now we're back in Texas in August and will be here until the Wedding to get the final touches in before we see all of you soon! Vendors, food tastings, and Pinterest boards are every way we turn.

It’s crazy to write this because there were so many little moments I missed, sad or happy, close friends not mentioned, and memories forgotten (or not in my photos when I looked through them to write this). It’s hard to describe the emotion associated with all the events above. The thing that stands out the most to me is just how it’s always been so easy to be around each other. Some of our time together has been difficult for us individually, but it all seems easier when we’re together. I’m so grateful I met Cassidy almost 5 years ago. It feels like so much longer and it makes me look forward to writing something like this together for the years we have ahead.