^ Danny and I dressed up as Tanner and Alli, with Tanner and Alli this past Halloween

Fun fact: Tanner and Alli are engaged too so Alli and I will both be Faulkners! Take that Kaley and Michaela!! (two of my best friends who married the Slemmons cousins & also share a last name).

^ Matt Slemmons, Kaley Slemmons, Michaela Slemmons, and Jared Slemmons

Also, Danny and my sister, Amanda, were in the same grade at RHS, a couple years ahead of me. And Dalan, Danny's brother, was in the grade below me.

^ Dalan, Danny, and Amanda painted up for an RHS football game

I knew "of" Danny, he had no idea who I was. And despite all these connections, we didn't actually meet until about 6 years after I graduated high school.

OKAY, now for our story -

Danny, Tanner and Alli were taking the boat out on the lake and, outnumbered by men, Alli asked if I wanted to join. I lived about 5 minutes down the road and as busy and important as I am, I happened to be free and couldn't pass up on a lake day.

This was our "meet cute" if you will. But also kind of not... because it would be another 4 years before we were actually in a relationship. I chalk it up to timing, but I'll get to that. ANYWAY, apart from some mild flirting and Danny showing off on the wakeboard a tad more than usual - which I do admit was and still is very impressive - we walked away from that day with nothing more than a new friend and a beautiful tan (on Danny's part). Although, I do like to think had we not both recently gotten out of serious relationships, maybe it would have gone somewhere - who knows!

It was later on that Summer that Danny tagged along with Tanner and Alli to our friends’ pool party *enter Amanda Leonard & Kendra Black* and once again Danny and I found ourselves in the other's presence. We came, we swam, we ate, we drank, and somewhere along the way it became clear that Danny and I had a "thing." Day turned into night at a rather sketchy karaoke bar, which later turned into a game night back at Alli's sister's house. It was a DAY, and the origin of what we now half-jokingly refer to as "Round 1."

^ 90% sure Danny took this picture so he’s not in it (bummer) but this was the day!

Round 1 was packed full of all the laughs, plays, and good times we have now, just far more casual. Believe it or not, neither of us had expectations of eventually getting into a relationship together. While there was definitely a mutual attraction, we kept things fun and light because that was exactly what we wanted at the time. I remember thinking he was refreshingly honest, if not slightly shameless, and an absolute blast to hang out with. Looking back, I'm extremely grateful to Round 1 for laying our "friends first" foundation - that is my favorite part of our relationship.

^ One of our very few captured moments from Round 1 (2018)

Despite Danny's confidence in his irresistibility, made clear by a nonchalant "Okay, see you next weekend!" in response to my breaking things off, I moved on and so did he. A while later, we were both back in serious, long-term relationships (not with each other) and yada yada yada... it didn't work out.

It was about 3 years after our 4-month escapade that I took it upon myself to "see what Danny was up to" via Instagram (lol classic).

His response: "Wait does this mean we can be friends again?"

My response: "Hahahaha yes"

His response:

So I had to assume he was single.

We picked up right where we left off and he was a breath of fresh air. The second time we hung out happened to be on his birthday, and ALSO during the 2021 winter freeze! Yes, we were snowed in together for multiple days; that tends to go one of two ways. Fortunately for us, it went the good way! Ever the opportunists, we grabbed our jackets, laced up our boots, and carpe diem'd that s*** outta those snow days.

Shortly after that we ~ very spontaneously ~ booked a ski trip to Copper Mountain, Colorado together, which is still to this day one of our favorite trips! We hung out virtually every weekend after that and this time, things were different.

^ Copper Mountain, CO (2021)

Still pretty fresh out of relationships, we took our time, but as the months went by we could feel things shifting. This was new for us and it took some navigating, but after a first of its kind, all-cards-on-the-table conversation we accepted that not only did we have something real, we had something amazing. The flood gates were finally opened and here’s what’s happened since -

I started officially dating Danny on October 24, 2021 and Danny started officially dating me on October 26, 2021 - miscommunication, which is ironic because our open, constant communication is one of the biggest pillars of our relationship.

Danny first told me he loved me on November 28, 2021 during my family's annual, post-Thanksgiving trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where we recently purchased a 1.25 acre lot and are now in the process of building our first tiny home; the first step in our life plan that we sat down and carefully crafted together. I said it back, by the way :)

I moved myself and my animals into Danny's house, unbeknownst to him, while he was out of town on April 16, 2022. We had planned to move me in the following weekend but I got the itch to "cozy up the place" while house/dog sitting for him and I scratched it, rather hard - SURPRISE!! We now live happily together with our two dogs, Paxx and Remi, and our cat, Jack Olivér (we pretend he's French). Our house is very much a home.

Danny proposed to me in Angel Fire, New Mexico on February 21, 2023 under a big 'ol pine tree that, come June 8th, 2024, all you lovely people will also be gathering under to celebrate the commitments we will make, and promise to keep for the rest of our Round 2.

P.S. Thank you mom for telling me to "not cut my nose off to spite my face." Whatever that means.