Casey and I met on a dating app! We chatted for about a week and decided to go on a date. It was 5/31/23. He took me to Dave and Busters in the Woodlands, TX. It is THE BEST date I have ever been on! I didn't realize they served food which means I didn't realize we would be having dinner as well. I stopped at Chic-Fil-A beforehand so I wouldn't be hungry. When I got there, it turns out we were going to eat! I told him I had already had dinner and he ended up eating by hisself! It is quite comical to think about! His pizza ended up being burnt and he ate about half of it while I watched him eat. We continued to sit at the bar as I sipped on a glass of wine and we did all the normal get to know you questions that we hadn't already asked. Then we went to play games and we had a BLAST! I won one game the whole night and he dominated the rest which I was a little bitter about but I was having too much fun to care! I told him beforehand that I was competitive and it really didn't show, haha! After about an hour of games, we went back to the bar to keep talking. We got one more drink and babysat them for a few hours as we talked about EVERYTHING we could think of. Our past history, our hopes and dreams, our jobs, our families, politics and anything else you can imagine. We truly didn't want the night to end but it was a work night! We kept up with each other by texting periodically. I noticed he would take hours to reply to my text messages so then I would do the same to him and "make him wait" and be hard to get. He had no clue! The things we do sometimes... He also called me on the phone to talk a lot. I thought that was so weird and I would pace around the house nervously while we were on the phone. Turns out, I loved talking to him on the phone!

We had a few more dates that summer; dinner in downtown Conroe, TX, glow in the dark mini golf and then we started to hang out at his house. He got me hooked on a TV show, Sons of Anarchy. When I came over, we would have dinner and binge watch the show! We could get through about 1-2 episodes before I had to make myself go home to get ready for the next work day. It was always hard to force myself to leave when I never wanted the night to end!

Meeting Families:

Either late June or early July, Casey took me to the coolest restaurant in downtown Conroe, Honor Cafe! I was meeting his dad (Eddy) and step-mom (Angie). We had an awesome brunch together all getting to know each other. I got to hear some hilarious stories about Casey and his siblings growing up.

Around the same time frame, I took Casey to meet my mom (Jane). We went to Black Walnut Cafe & enjoyed brunch!

My best friend's (Candis) birthday came around in July and I invited him to come to dinner with me and some close friends.

I cannot remember the exact month, but Casey took me to Forth Worth to meet his mom (Holly), brother (Joey) and sister (Kami).

The 23-24 school year rolled around for both of us in August. He is a High school Basketball Coach and History Teacher. I am an Elementary Special Education Teacher! We knew our fun summer time was coming to an end but we made it a point to still talk and see each other as much as we could. The year started off great for us both as we got into our routines.

Casey's sister (Jessica) was throwing her husband (Pete) a surprise 40th birthday party in Houston. I met both of them that night and was able to have an awesome time with his family. We ended up saying "I love you" on this night!

By October, we decided to move in together! Another great decision! We have enjoyed this journey of figuring each other out.

Basketball season started in late October/ early November. Casey had many late nights and very early mornings. I really enjoyed being a part of this time of his. I picked up the slack on house-hold duties and we were finding our way to making a great team at home. I attended almost every basketball game and it was so much fun! I LOVED watching him coach and see him do what he is most passionate about.

Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around fast and we enjoyed the holidays together. After visiting his mom, we ended up at Six Flags over Texas in Dallas and had a BLAST on our random adventure!

The 2024 new year came and we started to talk about our future a lot. All the what if's... and we should's... and one day...

In March we went on our first big trip together to Vegas! This was also Casey's birthday. I had never been before but he had been a few times. We went to a show every night. The first day there we walked 30,000+ steps! He wanted to show me EVERYTHING!! We loved walking around at night at seeing the lights and water fountains and the business of the city. We found out we love traveling together!

As soon as we got back from Vegas, we adopted our dog, Casper!! We found him on a local site and his sweet family had to give him up due to not having the time for him. They just had a newborn baby and also had 3 other kids and another dog. We just had to see him after seeing his pictures online curled up next to the newborn baby. We actually met him a few days before we left for Vegas and decided we wanted to adopt. The day after we got back we picked him up and brought him home! He fit right in with us and our lives. He is well mannered and a very smart boy.

Summer came back around again and we headed on our next big trip, Colorado! We drove this time and Casper came with! The 3 of us made the long journey through Texas, eventually getting to Colorado the next day. We spent the next 4-5 days in the mountains enjoying great company (A big group of Casey's friends that take this annual trip together), and enjoying all of the scenery. It was stunning there! We cannot wait to go back next year!

After Colorado, we made a huge trek across the US to Ohio! I was able to see where Casey was stationed when he was in the Navy. We were able to attend his good friend's (Bethany Eller) Navy Retirement. What an honor to witness!

We finally made it back home after two weeks away! Already thinking about where we could go next!

24-25 school year started up for us again and we got back into the routines. My 37th birthday came up and I decided I wanted to have fun this year. I decided to invite a bunch of friends to Pete's Piano Bar in downtown Houston. We had dinner right before at Hearsay's, which was so good! Casey and I had talked about wedding rings before and after he didn't propose in Colorado like I thought he would, I really thought maybe he would propose at this dinner. But, he didn't! I wasn't disappointed but I wondered when!

Well, it turns out that Pete's Piano Bar is the best place to do it! Casey had been in communication with the bar for about a week and planned out every detail of how it would go down.

They called me on stage for my birthday and it turned into the coolest proposal EVER! Casey and I were in tears and over the moon happy about this night and our future together. We truly couldn't be happier and we cannot WAIT to share with you all!