We were introduced on November 3rd, 2023, in Montgomery by our friends Sydney and Daniel Brooks.

At the time, Sydney and Daniel were in a long-distance relationship, with Sydney in Chattanooga and Daniel in Montgomery. One weekend, Sydney invited Rachel to join her on a visit to Daniel. After a long day of work and a 3.5-hour drive, they arrived in Montgomery on Friday night. Daniel mentioned that they would be playing pickleball with a few friends.

When they arrived at the courts, as they got out of the car, five guys walked up and introduced themselves, shaking Rachel’s hand. Rachel was caught off guard and felt very nervous, especially since she had only played pickleball once or twice before, while this group played weekly. Daniel claimed Rachel as his partner, while Kacy paired up with Sydney. It became clear early in the game that Kacy and Sydney needed to target Rachel to win. Overhearing their strategy, Rachel called them out and somehow returned their attempts to score off her. Rachel remembers Kacy’s sense of humor and kindness that night, while Kacy remembers losing to Rachel and Daniel.

The following day, Daniel and Sydney hosted a football watch party. Kacy was there but only spoke a few words to Rachel throughout the night. Rachel and Sydney left the next day and debriefed the weekend during the car ride back to Chattanooga. Rachel told Sydney that she thought Kacy was nice and had a good sense of humor, but since they hadn’t talked much, she didn’t expect anything to come of it.

A few weeks later, Sydney was back in Montgomery playing pickleball with the guys. As they were leaving, Kacy shouted to Sydney, “Tell Rachel we missed her!” To which Sydney replied, “Shoot your shot!” Kacy didn’t.

Another few weeks passed, and after some encouragement from Daniel, Kacy decided to take a chance and “shoot his shot.” He asked Sydney for Rachel’s number, to which Sydney responded, “I’ve been waiting for this text.” Sydney had cleared this with Rachel early on, but Rachel was still surprised that Kacy reached out, especially since it had been over a month.

Kacy reached out to Rachel on December 6th, and they instantly hit it off. Kacy traveled to Chattanooga for the first of many visits on January 5th to see Rachel. From that point on, they began traveling back and forth almost every weekend to spend time together.

Fast forward to October 13th, when Kacy proposed to Rachel in Hawaii at the Crater Botanical Gardens on Oahu. We are so excited to share our lives together and can’t wait to celebrate our marriage with our friends and family.

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