It all started back at Holy Cross around the Fall of 2015. He was on the football team, and I was on the track team. Although our teams regularly socialized, it wasn’t until some of our best friends (shout out Alli/Matt and Katie/Ryan) started dating that our social circles came together. When Coan and I joined them for a day out of mini golf, Coan was able to see how serious I am about golf…and winning. He must have found it charming because we instantly became friends!

In the Summer of 2016 after we graduated, I took a trip down to Coan’s hometown outside of Dallas. Smart men know the way to a woman’s heart, so he showed me some of the best breakfast tacos and barbecue in the world. We aren’t sure when our relationship officially started, but I’d like to think it was over a plate of chicken and waffles.

After two years in Boston, I got transferred to Austin, TX with Dell and Coan moved to his hometown and got a job at Nickson. We spent the next two years traveling the 3-hour distance back and forth to visit each other, spending weekends on the lake in Rockwall and at our favorite breakfast spot in Austin, Cisco’s.

In February 2020, Coan and I picked up our cute little golden-doodle Rae, having no idea we were going to be able to work-from-home and potty train her for the next 6 months. When quarantine started, we decided to co-parent in Dallas, allowing us to really see what we(he) knew all along: that we make the best team, partners, and friends, and couldn’t imagine life without each other. Within 4 months of getting Rae, we bought a house, and got engaged! Always surprises with him! Coan proposed when we picked up the keys and walked into our new home for the first time. There were roses all over the floor, our favorite song playing, champagne ready to be popped, and he got down on one knee. The rest is history!

Melissa and I met in college at Holy Cross when we both separately decided to “third-wheel” a few friends on their double date - we played putt-putt golf and got ice-cream. I learned that day how overly competitive Melissa can be, and she learned how much I love ice-cream. Even though I hated losing to her in golf, I knew that Melissa was the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

Despite my infatuation, Melissa was a tough one to crack. I spent the next year and a half working my way out of the friend zone, getting Melissa to go on a date with me, and eventually convincing her to be my girlfriend. From my point of view, Melissa made every step of our relationship 10 times harder than it needed to be, but for her, it was always worth it.

Post-graduation, we both kicked off our careers working and living in Boston for two years. In 2018, Melissa got transferred to Austin for work, and I took that as an opportunity to avoid bearing another cold winter and moved back to the Dallas-area to start a new, lifechanging job at Nickson.

After two-years of doing long distance traveling back and forth from Dallas to Austin, our relationship was as great as ever, but I was ready for me and Melissa to live in the same city again. Again, Melissa didn’t make any step of our relationship an easy one, so I had to take a new strategy to convince her to move to Dallas – buy us a puppy that she’d fall in love with and wouldn’t be able to stay away from.

Long story short, my plan worked (thank you Rae). Melissa officially decided to move to Dallas, and we purchased a house together. With the cross-state move and new home coming, the final thing I wanted to do was get a ring on Melissa’s finger to make things official. I quickly got a ring and flew to get Melissa’s parents blessing, so I could propose on the day that we closed on our home. Luckily, everything went as planned, and we had an amazing engagement day and finish to 2020!