It's funny... looking back on the night I met Darby... it felt like a normal summer night out but then at the same time, it didn't. It felt like I was anticipating something exciting or something out of the ordinary.

I found myself being very restless at my old apartment, The Establishment, trying to figure out what my plans were for the night. I remember pacing around my kitchen wondering to myself what I'll be up to that night and got a thought to see what my friend Aly and her then boyfriend was up.

"Oh I think we are going to some party. Want to come over and we go?" I immediately said count me in and asked what kind of party it was, which she replied, "It's called a Positive People party." Obviously my first thought was, "What the hell is a positive people party?" I very much has the attitude of what the hell so threw on my favorite little black dress, my black chunky Vans and met up with them at their place later. A couple of pre-gaming beers later and we were on our way.

I remember showing up to this house being in awe of the backyard. I was obsessed with this house. It had a friggin school bus in the back (need I say more?) and a two story guest house. We showed up early so not a lot of people were there (didn't know a soul and would not know anyone at this party the entire time) but the backyard was incredible, there was an awesome cooler in an old rusted container, tables and chairs and it was a beautiful summer night.

Aly and I decided to pound back some beers to help with the anxiety of not knowing anyone and all of a sudden I saw a small group of guys come into the backyard. One of the guys when I saw him... it was like I had laser focus on him and couldn't stop myself from knowing where he was throughout the night. Anyways, we meet and shake hands and for the life of me, could not understand what his name was. Was it "Derby", "Darby"? I honestly was so nervous when I met him that I think I kinda blacked out when he said his name and literally didn't understand him.

At some point throughout the night, after being a weirdo and looking for him in my peripheral vision... I see people are going in and out of the guest house (him included) and decided to see what was going on. I walk up these stairs (ended up slipping on them later) and come up to a music room. Theres a massive drum kit, couch, guitars, electric piano and other stuff (a legit music room). I believe how it went was...

I decided to chill on the couch right in front of the drum kit and of course, Darby's on it. Aly and some other people come in and are wanting to play but they dont know how so Darby volunteers to teach. He starts teaching Aly and some other girls, all the while Im hanging out on the couch sipping on my beer. I think he got tired of trying to teach so he sat down and started putting on a private show.

This. guy. is. so. good. LIKE WOW.

I grab my phone and start recording... usually I would think thats so cringe since I just literally met this guy but he was so good that I just had to record it. He ends up playing for a while (at some point he for sure took his shirt off, he will deny this but he did) and there was for sure probably 4 or 5 occasions during this time where we locked eye contact. This guy decides to sit down next to me on the couch afterwards and says, "So I saw you recording me... mind if I get your number so you can send those to me?" YES, TAKE MY NUMBER.

I give him my number and that's that. Yes, there is for sure more that night (but since family is reading this... will not get into it) but to put it PG, this guy came over with a backpack that night and basically moved in with me a week later.

The night I met Rachel, I first saw her in the backyard of a friend named Dan who was hosting a party. It was at the Positive People party in Austin, Texas.

I was hanging out, having a good conversation, and walking by the food when I saw this woman in a black dress with Vans on.

Rachel was with her friend whom she came with. We briefly said hello continued our individual times at the party as the festivities continued.

I knew one thing about this place: one way or another, I was going to end up having some fun playing drums at some point tonight.

Also, having some food, having a few drinks, having a good time. The tunes kept on rolling.

As the night went on, I made my way up to the drum room and at a point began giving private lessons to people, showing them how to do basic drum beats.

After a while of that, there was a small crowd in the studio where we were playing with the drum set. I took my turn to get on and start to play a bit and go into a solo.

During this time, that same girl in the black dress with Vans was filming my solo on her phone, so of course, I did what I could to show off as much as possible.

As I started to wrap up, I had an idea that it'd be cool to get the video, but more specifically, it'd be even cooler to get her number.

That was my in.

So I walked over, sat by her on the couch, and asked if she could send me her number.

Thank God she said yes!

After that, the party went on, and I didn't know when I would see Rachel again, but I certainly knew I wanted to. To my very happy surprise, I received a text asking if I wanted to hang out later.

Apparently, Rachel had already left and gone off to do some fun things at Greenlight Social downtown. But yeah, of course I’m down.

I remember calling her right away, as loud as it was and hard to understand, to confirm and lock in the details.

Then just a few days after, we had our very first date downstairs at Caroline's.

The moment she walked in and turned her head to look my way at the table, I knew this was someone special who I was quite possibly open to the idea of spending the rest of my life with.

And here we are. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Rachel.