Here is the story of how this relationship came to be simply because of a pair of blue jeans.

Wilks and I met in Dallas, TX on our first day as tax interns on August 6th, 2018. I was two minutes fashionably late to work on my first day and walked in apologizing for my tardiness to Wilks, who I presumed to be the boss. To which he responded, "Its ok, just don't let it happen again." A few minutes later our actual boss walked in and I looked over at Wilks who had a stupid little smirk on his face.

A few months later, the stars aligned, and I decided to wear one of my favorite pairs of jeans to work. Wilks was on his way to the office bathroom when I turned the corner in front of him on my way to the kitchen. Wilks missed his turn. He continued to accidentally follow me to the office kitchen, pretend he was grabbing a drink from the fridge, and make small talk to cover up his mistake.

From that day on, it was a pursuit. He was very persistent yet no matter how hard he tried; I was not picking up any hints. Ladies – take notes – I really made him work for it.

At this point, he probably thought about giving up, but then that image of me in those ever-so-flattering jeans would pop into his head and thus the pursuit would continue.

Now I can’t forget to give credit to many of our friends for their assistance as I was very dense and not catching on to any attempts made by Wilks. If that is on Wilks' lack of, as the kids call it, "rizz", or on my lack of picking up hints, we’ll never know.

Finally, after a long night at an office happy hour in March 2019 where Wilks & I were always the ones closing down the bar, Wilks made his final attempt to hit on me and it was a success.

While Wilks & I were both hesitant to jump into anything too quickly, and after some not-so-subtle pushing from our friends, we began dating after two short weeks on March 23rd, 2019. After two and a half months of dating, we secretly, not so secretly anymore, moved in together. Being the accountants that we are, we made spreadsheets of how much money this would save us to move in together, pros and cons lists of why this is a bad idea, a plan to not tell our friends and family as we wanted to avoid the lectures of how bad an idea it is to move in with someone you just started dating.

We spent every second together for months, at home and at work, and never got sick of each other. We had just moved into a new place when Covid hit. We were stuck at home 24/7, yet we never got sick of each other. This must be a good sign.

I always said I never wanted to date an accountant – how boring could life be? But boy was I wrong. Ever since meeting Wilks, my life has been full of so much adventure.

From moving across the country together to hanging upside down on the side of a mountain (which was really Carson, Wilks' friend's, fault, but still) – yet this, our marriage, is going to be the biggest adventure of all.

Wilks & I came into this relationship, both skeptical of what this may become. Yet we both just leaned into it. He’s brought out the spontaneous side of me, that I didn’t even know I had. I know I brought out the caring, sweet, & silly side of Wilks, that some people never get the privilege to see.

After four and a half years of not-so-patiently waiting - oops, I mean dating - on June 9th, 2023, Wilks asked me to marry him on the Fairhope Yacht Club beach in Fairhope, Alabama near the dock we go out to every week to disconnect and watch the sunset, with all of my family hiding inside waiting to surprise me.

To both of our surprise, I didn’t cry. How is this possible? I bawl my eyes out at sappy commercials. Why wasn’t I crying at my own proposal? But all I felt was calm. Me – a nervous wreck 99% of the time, was not nervous at all. I was so happy that Wilks finally made this commitment to me and I was 100% sure he was the one. Now once the shock wore off the next day, I absolutely bawled my eyes out. But that’s beside the point.

We chose June 22nd as our wedding date because it is a very special day to me. My mother’s parents got married on November 22, my parents got married on August 22, and my father's parents got married on June 22 – our wedding date, 67 years ago. My grandparents are so gracious to let us share their very special anniversary date with them.

If you made it to the end of this long version of our story, I'm impressed! Wilks & I love each and every one of you for being apart of our story. I am so excited to become a Hope!

Now let's party!!!!!

E&W