Gracie:

Jackson and I met after an intramural volleyball game at DBU that he was playing in. When we first met I thought he was an upperclassmen, but after talking to him for a bit, I was shocked to find out he is my age (and actually a few months younger than me!) All of our friends went to Waffle House after his game, and we all hung out for a few hours. A week later at homecoming pomping, I went up to talk to him and he introduced himself to me... for a second time. He forgot we had already met once the week before. I thought it was funny, and asked him to my sorority's formal that was in a few weeks. He said yes, and asked me to his fraternity's ice skating date dash (pictured to the side). All of our friends went and it was such a fun night!

Jackson:

I met Gracie after my intramural volleyball game when my friends were sitting in the stands and she was sitting with them. I just went up and initiated conversation to make a new friend, which we got to hang out a bit after as our friend group went to Waffle House. From there, the funny part is that I entirely forgot I met her. Shown by the fact that whenever we were building floats for homecoming I accidentally re-introduced myself in an awkward exchange. However, she still asked me to go to her formal and I was able to get her to be my date for my fraternity date dash. I had gotten to the point where I would have gladly dated her if I had known that she liked me, but I was committed to upholding our friendship to not ruin it.

Gracie:

During the fall and spring semester, our friendship continued to grow and I considered him one of my best friends. He didn't know it, but during this time, I was starting to develop feelings. Because we were in the same friend group, I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to ruin our friendship.

Jackson:

The end part of 2021 and 2022 seemed to be a normal time for me and her. Just friends hanging out in the group and getting closer to one another. I viewed her as one the girls in my friend group yet apparently she felt a little more. Yet I still did not want to ruin our relationship as I enjoyed hanging out with her and did not want to risk changing what we had at the risk of losing a friendship.

Gracie:

One night, I ended up telling one of my friends, Madeline, about my feelings towards Jackson. Both of us, along with the rest of our girlfriends, were going to this formal with our guy friends the next day, and Jackson was going to be there. Being the matchmaker Madeline is, she told Jackson about my feelings and according to her, Jackson told her that he was "down bad" for me. Our whole friend group went to the formal that night and it became one of my best memories of college. Two days later, Jackson asked me out on a date.

Jackson:

Pi formal 2022 was the night that started it all. I was at dinner with all of my friends and just hanging out whenever I got up to go to the bathroom. Nothing weird, until I saw Gracie's friend Madeline waiting outside of the bathroom with something to say to me. She then proceeded to very excitedly say "Hypothetically, if Gracie liked you, hypothetically, would you say that you would hypothetically be down bad." Of which I responded with a solid yes. The thought then popped into my head that I have to ask her out ASAP and see where this takes us. We then hung out that night and had our first date a few weeks later.

Gracie:

We went on our first date to my favorite pizza shop called Eno's Pizza in Bishop Arts District. I joke about how it was our first date, but it felt so normal because we had been friends for over a year and a half. We spent the rest of the evening walking around Las Colinas and talking about everything we could. 10 days later he asked me to be his girlfriend!

(Side note: this picture is the only one taken on our date and was sent to Madeline when asked how the date was going. We thought it would be funny to try and prank our matchmaker)

Jackson:

Our first date happened after hanging out almost nightly for two weeks, but nonetheless, it was still a fantastic night. We got dinner at Eno's and had pie in Bishop Arts and just had a fun time overall. Truly was a God-blessed relationship when I could tell how peaceful and easy it was to talk to each other. We didn't want to stop the date after dinner and dessert so we then went to Las Colinas to walk around the water for a few hours just to talk longer.

Gracie:

Two days later, Jackson left to spend his whole summer serving at T Bar M summer camp. While it was hard not seeing him for the whole summer (after dating for two days), the Lord used this time to grow us individually so when he got back from camp, our relationship would be amazing.

Jackson:

May 10 was the day we started dating. It happened in a conversation that very much matched our two personalities. I was content with us just phasing into that relationship but Gracie wanted to have a definition to it. So in the car on May 10th I asked her to be my girlfriend (thankfully she said yes). Quickly after that, 2 days, I left for camp for 3 whole months. Which was another testament to God's hand on our relationship as there was no strain between us during my time away.

Gracie:

After Jackson got back from camp for the entire summer, we had so much fun deepening our relationship. We went to Louisiana to visit my brother, and it was so fun seeing Jackson get to know my family better.

Jackson:

Coming back from camp it was a whirlwind of traveling and getting to know her and the families. I attended her step brother's wedding and then went to Louisiana to visit more of her family. She was also able to come down to New Braunfels and see where I was raised as well as meet all of my family. But my favorite part of all of it is the conversations we had on the road trips as we got to know each other better and became a better couple through it.

Gracie:

During school, we were both very busy people who were very involved at DBU. Jackson worked at the coffeehouse, was social chair (and now vice president) for his fraternity, worked at a church, took masters classes, and played lots of intramural sports all while being a full time student. I was sub-social chair (and now social chair) for my sorority, worked two jobs, and spent all my time studying (thank you, Genetics). While it was hard for our relationship, we learned how to prioritize our relationship and grow apart and together.

Jackson:

Since then it has been a long journey with a lot of ups and no memorable downs. We are both busy people who don't like to sit still. She is always studying and working in the lab as well as serving fully in her sorority. While I would be doing the opposite and working at the coffee shop (and typically some other job) alongside putting a whole lot of time in my fraternity. Yet these things caused our relationship to strengthen. We became more intimate in our times together and valued every moment. Took time to learn how to communicate and slow down in the chaotic lives we both have.

Gracie:

Unknowing to me, Jackson had been planning a proposal since July. Throughout the busyness of our lives, he worked and planned so hard to have an amazing proposal. He proposed on December 9th at the Dallas Arboretum, and it was the proposal of my dreams. We are still learning more about each other each day, and cannot wait for this next season of marriage.

Jackson:

The engagement was a 6-month ordeal that worked out better than I ever could have imagined. From asking my parents and setting up a secret meeting with her mom. To texting her friends and staging a fake photoshoot giveaway. It all led up to the perfect moment to ask Gracie to be my best friend forever (and thankfully she said yes).