If you ask Mackenzie: Jack and I were like two passing ships in the night for the better part of a year while attending the same gym in Nashville, until one day - we weren't. I was actually sick at home with the flu when my then roommate met Jack during a Christmas bar crawl. Months passed and thanks to our mutual friends our paths finally crossed - however, it wasn't necessarily love at first introduction. Jack was relentless in his pursuit, and it took at least a month of convincing and many invitations from him, but I finally gave in and decided to give him a shot --- and, thankfully, I never looked back!

Jack came to pick me up for our first date, and I was worried, because Ranger had become anxious around strangers in his old age. Instead of having his normal reaction, he ran up to Jack like he had known him for years and they became best friends. Box #1 had officially been ticked in my mind. We proceeded with our first date (I was still wary), but I had the best time. I left town the following morning to go spend the weekend with my family in GA, where I realized I liked him, because I didn't want to be away from him. Imagine my surprise when I wake up to a text from him admitting the same thing. At the time, I wasn't looking for a relationship, so, meeting Jack took me by surprise, and I was definitely a tough egg to crack at the start. Now, I'm thankful for what he saw between the two of us and continued to pursue it!

Things escalated from there, and we immediately became best friends and spent the majority of our free time together and with our three dogs and/or friends. We quickly discovered that our favorite thing to do together is laugh -- if you ask Jack, I'm the funniest woman he's ever met, but I always remind him that I'm the funniest PERSON he's ever met ;)

Roughly a month into officially dating, Jack decided to spill the beans to my friends that he "loved" me - instead of telling me! They all played it cool, but I knew what had just happened, and I playfully dragged that conversation out of him the next day when we were alone. Fast forward a year and some months, we were on a long roadtrip back to Nashville when somehow the topic of marriage came up. Jack had always said I was going to be his wife, but I would just roll my eyes. This time, the conversation was different. It was serious. Meaningful. We were doing it.

We went ring shopping, and he was back the next day to secure the deal (I saw his location lol). The man is terrible at keeping secrets, and it is almost impossible to surprise me with anything, so we were both eagerly awaiting what was to come for the engagement. Somehow, he did pull off an entire surprise party with all of my favorite people! The best day of both of our lives so far. And I still can't believe he was able to surprise me.... even though I had my suspicions.

Now, I look back on everything we have shared together and how much we have grown as a couple, and I've never been more certain that this is the greatest thing we'll ever get to do. To know someone as patient, supportive, encouraging, and constant as Jack is to know what I have to look forward to for years to come.

If you ask Jack: The first time I officially met Mackenzie, I was immediately drawn to her because she had me laughing at everything she said and she was extremely easy to talk to - not to mention, easy on the eyes. I spent weeks trying to convince her to go out with me. Eventually she gave in, then I had to do the hard thing: plan a date. My original plan failed, and I knew she was the one when I convinced her to walk a mile to another restaurant despite the 100 degree heat. After the date, we got drinks with two friends who immediately confirmed what I was already feeling - they loved Mackenzie! I'll admit, after weeks of pursuing her, during our first few dates and hang out's, she didn't want to come out of her shell, but I knew the Mackenzie I had initially met was somewhere in there, and I wanted to get to know her more.

I'm a big movie guy, and I quickly learned that Mackenzie is NOT, so I knew things were getting serious when she agreed to see the awful Thor: Love and Thunder with me in theaters and didn't complain. Little did she know, that was the first of many, many, many movies she would see with me (for instance, I forced her to watch the entire Harry Potter series because she had never seen it before). We also loved cooking together - it was something we started doing very early on, and let me tell you, I didn't know how good food tasted once you actually seasoned it. I'm convinced I could be a 5-star chef now!

Those are only two of the thousands of reasons I fell in love with Mackenzie. I could write a whole novel, but to save some of your time, I'll just name a few. She makes me laugh like no one else, and she has made me want to grow and become better each and every day. Also, I can't forget how easily she fell into being a dog mom to my two pups - she's definitely the favorite in the house.

Our first ever solo vacation was a spontaneous trip to 30A. It was the first time I had ever been, even though she had grown up going there. It was a turning point in the relationship for both of us and where we truly started to fall in love. It was a trip that I would remember forever, and a place that became special to us and our relationship. Things started getting serious, and we were ready to tie the knot. I wanted to expedite it and start our forever as soon as possible, but she kept me grounded and we settled on a more realistic timeline. Of course, we decided on 30A as our wedding destination, because of what it meant to us.

Over the past two years, Mackenzie and I have experienced a whole lot and grown more than I could have expected from the start. I am counting down the days until we get married and I get to start the best life imaginable with my best friend.