Austin and I met through mutual friends and a shared role as RA at our favorite place, Furman University! My memories of that time aren’t as clear as Austin’s, but I do remember him as kind, goofy, and easy to talk to. At some point that spring, Austin asked me out and I said no. In true Austin fashion, he was persistent and tried for the next month to really get to know me. We had fun and I knew he was a great guy, but I knew the time was not right.

Five years later, right after Austin moved to Kansas, he sent me a text out of the blue and I agreed that I would go on a date with him if he were ever in Birmingham. I honestly thought it would never happen, but that May we went on our first date. That next fall we started talking on the phone regularly. Many many hours on the phone later and I knew I had been way wrong back on 2012!

Austin came to visit me December 22, 2017 and we officially started dating! Two years of long distance dating later and Austin moved to Birmingham! On our third Anniversary date, Austin proposed on the rooftop of the Elyton hotel. I was so surprised, which may have been Austin’s primary objective!!! In fact, before he even asked me to marry him he asked are you surprised?!”

Austin and I have grown so much individually and as a couple in the past three years. Our relationship has had its ups and downs, but always more ups than downs. Austin is always willing to pray, to read a book together, and to have discussions that challenge either of us to grow. I think our relationship has relied heavily on humility, patience and a whole lot of help from Jesus!

I am endlessly thankful for Austin’s persistence in pursuing me over the past 10 years!!! We cannot wait to celebrate the culmination of this persistence with our friends and family!!

JESSICA'S FAVORITE PICTURE

I LOVE THIS PICTURE BECAUSE IT REMINDS ME OF HOW PROUD I AM OF MY "COACH B" AND HOW FAR WE HAVE BOTH COME IN OUR RELATIONSHIP! I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD OF AUSTIN, BUT I LEARNED A NEW LOVE AND RESPECT FOR HIM WHILE WATCHING HIM COACH THIS YEAR. THE WAY HE LOVES AND SERVES THESE CHILDREN IS INCREDIBLE. I CANT WAIT TO BE A COACH'S WIFE!

I first met Jessica in the spring of 2012, my last semester at Furman. We met through some mutual friends and began spending time together in group settings. I was interested almost immediately but didn’t decide to ask her on a date until a few weeks had passed. At some point in late March, I went to her dorm room to ask her out. Apparently, she had been warned by a friend that I was coming and was expecting my arrival. I was nervous but still felt fairly confident. After all, I was a senior and she was a freshman. Why would she say no?? Well…. she said no. She didn’t want to start dating six weeks before I was going to graduate, which was understandable. We continued to chat sporadically for the remainder of the school year, and then I left Furman as a graduate in May and moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to begin my graduate studies.

One year later, in May of 2013, I returned to Furman to watch several of my friends graduate. I was thrilled to celebrate with my buddies and have a reunion weekend. While walking through the dorms with my friend, William, I bumped into Jessica! She was an RA, as I had been the year before, and was required to stay on campus through graduation. We began talking, and I was immediately reminded of why I had been so interested the year before. I tried to initiate something out of thin air by asking if she was interested in Skyping once I returned to Hattiesburg….. and was promptly shot down again.

Three and a half years passed with no communication at all. In September of 2016, I had just moved to Kansas for a coaching job and noticed something Jessica had posted on Facebook one night. I still had her cell number and decided to reach out. We chatted for a bit, and I told her if I came back through Alabama the following summer, I’d take her to dinner. Eight months later, on May 7, 2017 I took her out on our first date in Birmingham. We went to Mugshots and Yogurt Mountain. I then drove up from Mobile again two months later, and we had our second date on July 15th at the Pizitz Food Court. By the end of the second date, I knew I wanted to pursue a long term relationship, but I also knew it wouldn’t be very practical. I was going back to Kansas for my second year two weeks later, and Jessica would remain in Birmingham to continue PA school at UAB. We discussed it before I dropped her off at her house, and we both decided that temporarily discontinuing the relationship made the most sense.

I called her two months later in September to check on her after her appendix had been removed, and we began talking on the phone sporadically, a couple of times a month. By December, it had become several days a week for a couple of hours each time. I came home to Mobile for a few days during Christmas and drove up to Birmingham to see her. We made it official on December 22, 2017 and began a long distance relationship. She came to visit me in Kansas for the first time in March of 2018. On March 27, the day she left to return to her clinical in Dallas, I knew that I wanted to marry her.

I eventually left my Kansas coaching job in May of 2019 and moved to Birmingham in August of that same year. Since then, we have had our ups and downs. We’ve argued, stressed, expressed frustration, questioned our future, and almost ended the relationship more than once. We’ve stayed together and persevered through all of these adverse situations, and now we’re a few months away from a lifetime together. The problems we have experienced in the past will not subside once we exchange vows. Marriage is a long, difficult journey that requires patience, forgiveness, and unconditional love on a daily basis. My dad has always told me that love is a daily choice. You have to decide every single day to love and remain loyal to your spouse despite their flaws or how irritated you are with each other. It won’t always be easy, and it won’t always look pretty, but we will strive to do just that over the next 60 years. Our relationship will be like a rope with three strands. Christ will be our third, the most important strand that makes it nearly unbreakable. He will carry us when we are unable to do it on our own.

I love our story. It’s uniquely ours, and I wouldn’t change a single event in the sequence. I’ve enjoyed the journey! We’ve had so many wonderful times. We’ve hiked, been to weddings, spent time with both families, found a church, had road trips, taken shots, gotten a puppy, and played dozens of board games (I usually win). What I find most exciting is the fact that the memories we’ve accumulated thus far are only the tip of the iceberg! We’ll spend our marriage together adding to this list until it’s too lengthy to write down.

As you can tell from my lengthy account, I thoroughly enjoy telling our story in great detail, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

AUSTIN'S FAVORITE PICTURE

THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF JESSICA AND ME FOR SEVERAL REASONS. IT WAS TAKEN DURING MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY, CHRISTMAS. I WAS NERVOUS ENTERING THE HOLIDAY BECAUSE IT WAS GOING TO BE MY FIRST CHRISTMAS SPENT WITH SOMEONE OTHER THAN MY FAMILY, AND I ENDED UP HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME. IT IS ALSO OUR FIRST PICTURE AS A THREE-MEMBER FAMILY WITH WINNIE. I WAS NOT COMPLETELY SOLD ON GETTING A DOG PRIOR TO WINNIE, BUT SHE HAD BEEN WITH US FOR ROUGHLY A MONTH WHEN WE TOOK THIS PICTURE, AND MY MIND HAD ALREADY CHANGED. IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS WE'VE MADE AS A COUPLE. ONCE AGAIN, AS IS USUALLY THE CASE, JESSICA WAS RIGHT.