Where it all Began:

Twelve years and three months ago, the Hardin family moved to Hilltop Baptist Church. Nick was seven years old and Leslie, eight. It took Nick and Leslie nearly ten years to go from simply recognizing each other's existence to a snowballing friendship which began to blossom in their later High School years.

Once their friendship started, their relationship and connection to one another grew quickly. They seamlessly and almost secretly become each other's "best and closest friend."

It was obvious to everyone around them after seeing their friendship that something more was sure to developed between them.

They both battled with their own feelings for a long time, wanting to tell each other how they felt as they grew closer and closer, but were too scared to lose the friendship they had should the feelings not be reciprocated.

In November of 2022, Leslie took the step to tell Nick how she felt after a friend outing to HeyDay in Moore. Nick had planned to tell Leslie how he felt that upcoming New Years, but she beat him to it. After this talk, it ended with the repeated question: "What now?" Nick felt as though he was on Cloud 9 and, although he was dying to ask Leslie out, he knew in his spirit that he could not rightly make such a decision without a clear mind, praying and waiting for God to direct him on if this was meant to happen. It took nearly three months before Nick felt the Lord finally tell him, "Now." Nick figuratively describes it as the feeling of God letting go of his shirt collar and allowing him pursue this relationship and Nick decided that asking Leslie to his High School Prom was his "way in."

He asked Leslie's parents, specifically, if he could take her to prom. This was the most nerve racking day of his life up to that point (easily surpassed by proposal day). Her parents allowed it after teasing him a bit and on March 10, 2023 Nick and his father (on Mr. Hardin's birthday), went down to Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where Leslie went to school to surprise her by asking her two questions. "Will you go to prom with me" and "Will you go out with me?"

They had their first date on April 1st, at the Oklahoma History Musuem, for prom. However, Nick had to go back to Leslie's parents and apologize, and to ask, officially, to date their daughter as he hadn't gotten permission for that much. So, on April 3rd of 2023, he met with her parents once more and followed them back home to officially ask her out. They spent every day to follow growing closer and closer and deeper and deeper in love. Both with each other and with the promises of the future they were so excited to build together. A future that starts, officially, November 4, 2024.

Engagement:

April 2nd, 2024 Nick proposed to Leslie. Nick had

spent months of preparation work finding a beautiful

spot to propose. The second was significant because

Nick believes that after their first date, on the first, is when they started dating, whereas Leslie doesn't believe that they started dating until the third when he returned to talk to her parents and ask her out after receiving that permission. The second is the day in between the two viewpoints. The plan was for Nick to surprise her and take her dancing for their one-year date-iversary because of their first date being at prom with a horrendous DJ.

Nick had spent months after finding a spot visiting and exploring and planning. He had taken family and friends to gather more opinions and planning. After two and a half months of preparation, he found that two and a half hours before he planned to propose, on the 2nd of April, that this spot was regulated and private property.

Allen and Nick then spent the next two hours in a scatter, replanning the proposal and contacting those who planned to be there. Nick was lead to a spot in Sulfur where he and Leslie shared their first dance. After rapidly setting up where Trae Thornton (our photographer for that day) was going to be, he left Allen to get people in place and do the last bits of set up while he went to the Chickasaw Visitor Center to change and then to go pick up Leslie.

After picking her up from the Murray State BCM, they came back to the spot to dance to a few songs before surprising her with family and a ring. Following the proposal, they got a few pictures before going to a dinner reservation at the Artisian set and paid for by Nick's parents. After a very good meal and a lot of conversation about the process of preparing for proposal, excitement for the future, and some preliminary wedding planning, Nick left Leslie back in Tishomingo before heading home.

N&L