What’s up my people!!! This is the the love story of Michael and Haley (written by Michael).


Our story started like most do in high school. I saw Haley for the first time at lunch or something. Her and I had mutual friends and we started chopping it up at school. I then, like one did in 2015, slid into her DMs on Twitter and started trying to work my moves. I paused my moves for like 3 weeks after seeing a picture of her with another guy, which turned out to be her brother, so that hold off was short lived until she posted her cheer photos which after seeing those, I couldn’t resist. One of the first things I did was make fun of Haley for having a 909 phone number. At that point I would have never thought this 909er would be the person I would be marrying.


We then had our “first date” which was basically her coming over to swim at my house with me and 4 of my other football buddies from high school. It was at that point I realized how amazing Haley is. She did not miss a beat with any of the boys and fit like a charm.


Haley and I went through the rest of high school having adventure after adventure, from high school football wins and losses, going to stagecoach, traveling the state for cheer competitions, we were always doing something and with each other.

When college came along life got tougher, but also more exciting for the both of us. We got put through the wringer in terms of not being physically with each other and also having very little time for each other. I lived in Colorado for a year, then Haley moved to Texas the next year for school and as she moved to Texas I moved back home to try and go somewhere else to play football. Those years were some of the toughest years we have ever had, but really made us realize how much we meant to each other.


Everyone says that long distance is what breaks people apart. For Haley and I - it was difficult, but it also made us grow closer to each other and grow up. It allowed us to have life experiences apart from each other and create lives and life long friends and then integrate our two lives together to create one. Long distance is not for everyone, but for us it made us cherish anytime we did get with each other and helped us become the people we needed to become for each other.


As for me and how I tell our story, its hard for me to put into words, except for the fact that we fought hard for each other, and made it. Haley will probably read this and mention all the little details I forgot, but that’s alright she’s better than me at that shit.


I think the best way to describe the most recent chapters of our lives is that we are still trying to figure it out and want to figure things out together forever. A few years ago we finally lived less than 3 hours away from each other, and then 15 minutes, and now we have our own place that we get to call home.


I’m not sure how any of this sounds, and quite frankly will be surprised if this makes it on the website, but whatever I listened to my future wife when she asked me to write our story in my own words.


Thanks for the read, see y’all soon!

When someone asks me about the first time I met Michael, I vividly remember standing in the Orange Lutheran High School student union in my cheer uniform. One of my friends that I had known since middle school was introducing me to THE JV football quarterback BUT he had a girlfriend so we talked about the game that day and then he had to head out to go down to the locker room. Not before he said goodbye with the most awkward hug of the century though…. I went down to cheer at that game feeling so cool because I “knew” the JV quarterback.

A few months later, I was driving home from cheer photos when I got a Twitter (or X, whatever it’s called now) DM from Michael and immediately I had butterflies in my stomach. After a few weeks of texting back and forth and some awkward encounters in the hallways, Michael asked me to come over to swim (rude). I remember texting my best friend, Katie, freaking out and she offered to come, but I wasn’t sure if this was a group thing or just the two of us so I said it was okay and put my big girls pants on and went by myself. My mom dropped me off (& cried at the front door) and the first thing I noticed is that Michael had 4 of his closest friends with him. Immediately, I regretted not having Katie come with me, but I prevailed.

After that day, Michael and I were inseparable for the next two and a half years of high school. We would meet up at our breaks, Michael would come sit at my lunch table (after he finished his lunch & now that I know how messy of an eater he is, I know why) or he would hang out in my geometry class “because Mr. Boburka was his basketball coach”. Throughout these years, we had so many fun experiences together including school dances, trips to country dance at The Ranch, concerts, cheer competitions and football games. All while we supported each other through our individual journeys as well like my mission trips and Michael’s hunting and fishing adventures.

Then there was college - Michael went off to Colorado to play football while I was still in high school. After 3 years of being at each others side for every up and down this was the start of 6 years living either a flight or, once we got lucky, a three hour drive from each other. While this time was beyond challenging, we learned to value the time we got together, making sure we made it to every football game or sorority event we could and received the blessing of deciding the kind of people we wanted to be when we grew up and the people we wanted to surround ourselves with individually. I thank God every day these paths continued to align.

And that all brings us to today... There is nothing that makes me more excited than the idea of continuing to grow up beside the most selfless, loving, hardworking, large dreaming, and God fearing man who has held my heart since I was 14. Now that you know this story - you better be ready to PARTY, because we get to celebrate the 10 years of love that got us to where we are today AND the many years of love to come.