{From Jamil's Perspective}

One of our favorite parts of Texas is the Hill Country. The culture, music, beverages, and lazy rivers make it a place that we find relaxing and soothing. However, at one point, neither Sara nor I knew that the other enjoyed central Texas or that the other even existed.

As I was slaving away in Excel one day a good friend (Steven Logan) called up and asked if I wanted to join him at the river in a few weekends. This wasn't so odd; I'd already been down there three or four times that summer. Once he started to layout the details I noticed that the people coming were mostly unknown to me and most of them had girls' names. So, being a bachelor and with nothing else to do that weekend, I signed up in a heartbeat.

Once the day finally arrived, I left work early and headed down to the river to help Steven setup. When I asked about the folks joining up that weekend, he kept pretty quiet. Well, next thing you know, a handful of girls walk in and I'm kinda star struck by this tall, blonde, fresh drink of water; Sara flows in smiling, laughing, and generally beaming. Of course, I introduce myself to all of them. The conversations went something like this:

Jamil: Hi, I'm Jamil. How are you?
Caitlin: Hey! I'm Caitlin. I'm great!

...

Jamil: Heyo, my name is Jamil. How's it going?
Megan: HI!! My name is Megan. Glad to meet you.

...

Emily: Hello Sir – my name is Emily. Pleased to meet you.
Jamil: Hi there – how's it going? I'm Jamil.

...

Jamil: Hi…
…Sara scowls at Jamil and walks away. [According to Sara, this is NOT true - I would never meet someone and behave so badly! :)]

So, of course, being a glutton for punishment, I decided to 'chase' the challenge. Sara had given me a look of daggers, and I hate when people don't like me off the bat. Later, we learned, Steven and Katy had picked the two of us to setup the whole time. A while and a few cold adult beverages later, Steven asks if Sara and I want to play bags. Reluctantly, Sara drags her feet downstairs and she and Katy play against Steven and me. Naturally, this put us on the same side of the boards. We went on playing for a bit and of course I teach Sara some of the finer points of the complicated game of cornhole/bags.

Blown away by my vast knowledge and charisma, she can't help but start to laugh at my wit and I finally got her to smile. She couldn't resist forever after all! [Sara still wholeheartedly denies this rude behavior.] Next thing I know, we're sitting by a fire talking late into the night. The next day, we floated next to each other and to the others at the river with us that weekend, we had noticeably become a little inseparable.

Finally, it was time to leave the river. What a weekend! This smokin' hot blonde seemed to really enjoy a lot of the things I do, could keep up with my sarcasm, and also tended to put me in my place when I deserved it. Unfortunately, she lived half a state away and who knew what that meant?

Well the fireworks didn't stop there. Sara and I spoke every day from then on, and a few weeks later, I drove to Houston to take her on our first date. In fact, we've never gone more than a day without talking except once, for a Christian retreat where outside lines aren't allowed. We spent the next year dating from long-distance. Over 45,000 miles on my Jeep, at least two weekends per month in Houston, 14 wedding dates, and who knows how many fishing trips later, and I finally decided enough is enough. I was going to move to this mysterious place in the armpit of Texas – Houston. [Sara wholeheartedly disagrees with Houston being an armpit.] I ended up quitting my job, bumming a room from two of my best friends in the world (Tom and Natalia Morris), and hunting a job down. Once that was secured…well that's the rest of the story.

Wedding Day

5:00 PM

5:00 PM

Wedding

Reception