Haley's Version

At the beginning of 2023, I randomly got a text from my friend Kelly of a screen recording of a dating profile. She said, "I thought about matching with him but he looks like your type." After scanning the profile, I saw that he checked a lot of boxes. And, it turned out that he was a coach in a small town not far from Normangee. On January 18, 2023, my friend and coworker, Katie, put in a good word for me to her former coworker and the dating profile owner's current coworker. Shortly after, I got a follow request on Instagram and a DM from Macaully Bowen, which read, "Hey Coach ;)". Heck of a pick up line, right? I responded and we haven't stopped talking since. We had our first date on January 28, 2023 at a steakhouse in Madisonville, TX, which fell a little flat. Looking back, we both chalked it up to lots of nerves. Afterwards, I knew he was a good guy, I was just unsure of if it would go anywhere. After a peptalk from Kelly and Katie, I agreed to a second. After that second date, which was when our fur babies first met and which was way more casual, I was hooked. On April 2, 2023, I fell in love on the day of our first church date and after he helped me tear up tile in my fixer upper. After that, I knew he was the one! On January 27, 2024, after convincing me it would be awhile, he asked me to marry him. It was the easiest "yes" of my life. Throughout our relationship, we have always had the Lord and our friendship to guide us. He is my best friend, my counterpart, my rock, and my soulmate.

Macaully's Version

I had just finished up football practice and our staff decided to go to the gymnasium to watch our basketball girls play. I noticed immediately this beautiful, glowing, blue eyed girl, who was the opposing team's head coach. I just knew she had to be married. Fortunately for me, she was not!! I remember looking her up and finding her and was a little timid to “shoot my shot”. Something in my gut told me I was going to take her on a date one day. A month later, a co worker of mine asked if I was single and if I was interested in this cute little coach from Normangee. I couldn’t believe it, it was her. We started talking and set up a first date in Madisonville at a place called “Texas Legends”. I think we can both agree there wasn’t anything legendary about that night. On the way home, I knew there was something more. I felt like we needed one more date. We ended up doing a dog date at her place and we hit it off. We talked and laughed for hours and before I knew it, it was dark. It felt like 20 minutes. Our relationship took off from there and it was on our first church date where I fell in love and knew I was going to marry her. She was the one. As we progressed, I was wondering how I could surprise her because I can’t get anything past her. On January 27th, with all our friends and family, I asked my best friend to marry me. She was totally shocked and said yes!! It was the best day of my life. God has always guided us and we have prayed to follow His will. I found my soulmate and I get to marry her.

After a few months of engagement and little wedding planning, we were presented with the option of getting married sooner rather than later and we jumped on the opportunity! The most important part of our wedding to us is starting our marriage in the Catholic Church and having our family and friends there to celebrate with us. We are so excited to start our lives together!