When I met Allen, my life was a mess. I just started school for Automotive Technology and was ready to put myself in the field. That’s when I got hired to be a Lube Tech at Don Ayres. I got hired in as the only girl technician in the company at the time and it was actually quite terrifying, especially because of the fact I’d be learning by guys that had been doing this for a bit. Allen was one of the main people that trained me. Almost everything I learned working on cars, I learned from Allen while he trained me. Throughout that time I was in a different relationship, a pretty messy one, so I wasn’t looking for anything at the time other than more friends. Allen and I slowly grew from the co-worker relationship, to being pretty good friends especially once I was done training and he didn’t have to check all my work. He turned into one of my go to people to talk to at work, honestly, and I would talk to him about a lot of stuff, even personal stuff outside of work that was bugging me. That also meant I was the most comfortable to ask him to borrow his tools sometimes, sometimes without his permission, but I always made sure to put them back! Eventually I’ve gained enough support from my friends and family to finally leave my previous relationship and it was amazing! Well, the being independent part was great, eventually I started dating again and it was horrible. I remember the night I started getting feelings for Allen, it was at the company Tincaps game in July of 2023. Allen had recently turned 21 and he of course was a lightweight so he was feeling the 2 drinks he had at the game when our friends wanted to go to the Three Rivers Festival. So we went but no way was I gonna let him drive himself, so I drove him and the entire time, on the way to and at the festival I couldn’t stop laughing. He’s one of the only people who knows how to really make me laugh and I love that about him. It took everything in me that night to not just randomly start holding his hand. I never thought it’d work out and he’d feel the same way so I never said anything to him about it. I continued to “date” and so did he. One day I was so fed up, Allen and I even had an agreement that if we weren’t married by the time we were 30, we’d marry each other. Shook on it and everything! Then one day, on his lunch break at work, he texted me and asked if I didn’t wanna wait until we were 30. It honestly confused/surprised me, I have no idea why he decided to ask me that day. I took a couple days to think about it but, in those couple days everyone told me to give him a chance, so I said yes. One of my co-workers even said, “If you want a future husband, I would say yes to Allen”. So our first official date was our work Christmas party, which we counted because we wanted to go together. That’s when people at work started asking questions but we technically weren’t “together” yet so we kept our business mostly to ourselves. We hung out a couple other times after the Christmas party but then on December 15th, only a few days later, we had our date at my house where we just sat and watched a movie and had Culver’s for dinner. Thats the night he asked me to be his girlfriend, and obviously, I said yes! Obviously our relationship was kinda awkward at first but we loved spending time with each other. He took me out on a nice dinner date to the Factory a week or two later and we always celebrated our monthly anniversaries because they were really special to us. We were to nicer dinners for some, played Putt Putt and obviously go-karts, we even went to a ball at the ACD Museum for Valentine’s Day! All of that leading up to the day he asked me to marry him. We wanted to have a date night and Allen came up with the idea to have a picnic in the back of his green truck and I loved the idea! We went out to to a field surrounded by trees and ate dinner while the sun set. No phone, just our dinner and us talking. It just got more beautiful as the sun set slowly behind the trees and Allen decided to put on some music and we started to slow dance. A couple song in, he awkwardly asked if we could record the next dance, and honestly I kinda had an idea of what he was doing so I said yes. He fumbled picking a spot to put it, like Allen does at times. We danced to the next song and at the end he dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so excited, I couldn’t contain my excitement and nodded my head yes! We both were so happy and all the nerves from the moment were gone. It was truly an amazing moment to share with him and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. <3

It was just another day at work for me. It was a cold December day in 2022. The heat was blasting in the shop, and I was minding my own business working on a car. A few hours in, I noticed someone new came in the shop with the manager. A girl? We have a girl applying here to be a lube tech? Thats the first time I laid eyes on Hailey, she was shadowing another tech at the shop to see if shed like to work here. In the back of my mind, I was hoping she liked the idea of working here. Fast forward to January, and its her first day at the shop! Guess who got to train her? Its me! Someone else trained her a few times, too, but I was one of them. I got to know her a little better and saw something on her left finger... she was engaged...I thought oh great, shes already taken. A few months went by, however, and we began to become good friends, and shed come over to my work area to tell me something or borrow a tool every once in a while. Fast forward to about June, and I heard she broke up with her fiancé! I thought there was no way that would have happened! Now shes single, I didnt make any moves, though, because she was pretty upset for a while, and I was focused on being her friend and being there for her. In July, our work had a suite at the Tincaps game, and Hailey and I sat with each other. I noticed something a little different about her, it seemed like she was flirting with me and I kind of didnt think too much about it but something about her attitude was definitely more shy with talking to me. Finally, at the end of November 2023, I decided to finally ask her out. She said she needed to think about it, and she thought it over the whole weekend and gave me my answer Sunday afternoon. SHE SAID YES! Our first date was just going out to lunch at firehouse subs which was the most awkward situation of my life at first but before the end of our break we became more comfortable talking to each other. Our work Christmas party was the first time we went out, even though it was with friends we still considered it a date and had an amazing time! We had an after party at a friends house, and before I left, I hugged her for the first time. Believe it or not, that hug was when I knew I found someone special, and I thought that me and her were going to have an amazing relationship. We dated for about 7 months, and I knew she was the one for me. I bought a ring and asked her parents for their blessing in asking her to marry me. I planned for us to have a secluded sunset picnic in a field sitting in the bed of my F100 truck. After we ate we got a speaker and played some country music to dance in the field to. After one of the songs, I finally got down on one knee and almost choked up but asked her if shed marry me. She, of course, was very excited jumping up and down and said yes! Im looking forward to spending the rest of my life with her and raising a family with her. I know it wont be easy, but it will be worth it! I love you, Hailey!