Michael and Lydia met almost 8 years ago right before they graduated from Northshore High School. They kept in touch every day and he eventually asked her if she'd be his girlfriend on the way to New Orleans with two of their closest friends, Taylor Tycer and Eric Fabre on April 22, 2011. Of course she said yes and the rest is history!
The next 7 years of their relationship held lots of ups and downs, changes, and challenges. Each of them attended college right after high school with Michael going to ULL in Lafayette for one year and Lydia at LSU in Baton Rouge for four years , but you could say Michael pretty much attended LSU since he was there all the time anyways. After Michael moved back to Slidell in 2012, Lydia ended up visiting him almost every weekend between attending classes, studying, and working.
She spent two more years working for LSU after graduating and finally decided it was time to move back home and be closer to him in 2017. 2017 was a great year for them both and you would rarely see one of them without the other by their side. The following year brought upon new changes for the couple, with Lydia taking on a new job in New Orleans and the two making plans of building or buying a house in the near future.
On May 12, 2018, Michael decided it was time to pop the question. He came up with an elaborate plan to have his close friend Tyler Hall make up a story to get Lydia to come take pictures at Fountainbleu State Park for his new photography business. She agreed, and the couple got dressed wearing their best and headed to the park. Tyler hid the engagement ring under a pile of moss and sent a picture to Michael showing him where it was. Luckily, Lydia was too busy admiring the scenery and the couples and families taking pictures to notice Michael searching adamantly for the ring. He finally found it and spun Lydia around and nervously said something along the lines of "you know we've been together for a long time and I love you so much....will you marry me?" Lydia was shocked to say the least and thinks she blacked out at some point during the proposal, but she ended up saying YES! Tyler all the while was taking beautiful pictures of them between the oak trees with the sun setting behind them. After the engagement, Michael planned an engagement party at his grandparent's house where both of their families and closest friends were there to surprise them.
They cannot wait to get married on June 8, 2019 and celebrate with family and friends. They know God has big things in store for them and they are excited to see what the future will hold!