His Version: It all started while working at the Georgia World Congress Center and an email notification came through my inbox. When Shannel was brought on to the Event Management staff, I received an email announcing that she will be starting in December of 2017. As soon as I saw her headshot, I knew she was "the one" and I HAD to meet her. We first met each other at an event that I thought that was the perfect moment to introduce myself. Unfortunately due to the circumstances, the conversation didn't last for long.

A few months went by and I didn't see her. One day walking in the building I was very close to taking the staircase but I decided to take the elevator. Luckily, this was my next chance and Shannel walked onto the elevator. I knew this was a sign and made sure not to mess it up. After talking for a while I got her Instagram handle name and slipped into her DM's! First date was an awesome dive bar that had great PBR specials and a date that was suppose to be 2 hours ended up being 4 hours - a great sign. On the 3rd date, I cooked up this delicious shrimp and scallop fettuccine pasta dinner (keep in mind I don't like a whole lot of seafood but I know she loves it). The 3rd date sealed the deal and the rest is history.

Her Version: Her version starts off a little different than his... I remember the first time Chris tried to talk to me under some interesting circumstances at work. At that time I was questioning my career choice at the same time he decided to chat with me. Needless to say, it wouldn't be until another 6 months he would get a chance to talk to me. This time, on an elevator, while I was still trying to make a recovery post Bonnaroo and the flu. It wasn't until he mentioned liking music that my ears perked up. And yes it's true - later that night he DM'd me on Instagram. Persistence was key.

Our first date was at a dive bar that only served water - PBR, Bud Light, etc. Still questioning a guy who truly enjoyed PBR, the conversation went much longer than expected so we went on a second date, and a third, and so on. Things were easy with us. We joked, we laughed, we hid our relationship at work - we made it happen!

I knew Chris was the one when he could hang with my friends and keep up with my hobby of music festivals. Not only that, going through a pandemic together and my girl Ellie falling in love with him was everything I needed to seal the deal. To know Chris is to love him. Since December 2017 I have shared more laughs and life with the person I get to keep forever. Cheers to a lifetime of this goofy doodle making life's adventures fun!

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