"Swipe right!" Who knew that playful swipe on Tinder (yes... Tinder) was really the first page of a love story? I still remember walking into the Walmart on the East Side of Athens one night during my sophomore year at UGA when my phone pinged with a Tinder match and message... "You've matched with Carson!" I can still remember chuckling at the clever first message that he sent me about one of my pictures (Ashley, who knew how impactful that fishing picture of us at your house from high school would be!?). A week or so of witty banter back and forth, some evening phone calls, and then an agreement on a first date -- a rainy Monday afternoon lunch date over pizza. Yes, Carson, I do plan to tell our kids about having to use your "smedium" Ralph Lauren sweater as an umbrella. I don't remember much about our conversation at Amici's -- I just remember not wanting the day to end. We headed back to my apartment to watch Anchorman 2, of all things, with a bottle of wine. By the end of the night, we were already planning on when we'd see each other again... the very next weekend!

One weekend with each other turned into another, and soon we found ourselves counting down the days until we could see each other. Carson lived not even an hour away from Athens, working at a liquor store in Gwinnett, but I can still remember feeling like those late night weekend drives to each other took far too long -- like we couldn't get to each other quick enough! One of those weekends -- May 3rd -- we decided to make it "official". Carson kept asking me if I "was sure", and made sure to drive home the point that if we started a relationship it would end in one of two ways -- me deciding to call it quits or marriage. Ok, Mr. Fortune Teller... Just a matter of weeks later, at a Dave Matthews concert, the L word rolled off our lips (although Carson let it slip out accidentally when saying goodbye a matter of days after making our relationship official... yes, I'll be telling the kids that one too!).

After a year and a half of dating, I graduated college and our "somewhat long distance" relationship turned full on long distance -- I moved in with my parents in Savannah to find a job, while Carson lived with his parents in Dawsonville, having just found a job. We spent the better half of a year driving 5 hours -- one way -- to see each other for a matter of days every couple of weeks...

Goodbye, long distance! We moved into our first apartment in Buford, GA not long after I accepted my first teaching position. That apartment was small, that first year teaching (and Carson's first year in his territory) was tough, but, oh, was our love real and strong. We leaned into each other so much during this time.

Who said three is a crowd? We knew we were wanting to "start our [fur] family", but promised we wouldn't until we moved ourselves into a rental house that had a yard. We fell headfirst into puppy parenthood when we were told the deaf American Bulldog we were signing the adoption paperwork for had to be taken home THAT DAY or she "wouldn't be around the next day". We will never understand how FOUR other families gave up on her all within her first year of life, but we thank God they did every day. Zoey Mae truly is the sour patch kid that turned us into a family.

For three years, we rented a rinky dinky 1,500 square foot box of a house in Braselton, Georgia -- just the three of us. The fence sagged, the carpet had seen better days, the garage was too small to fit either of our cars in it, and don't get us started on the HOA... But we made that little place a home and we grew so much as a couple and as a family in those three years.

The day we officially adult-ed! The years of working on our credit, saving up money, and stressing were all worth it when that key to our very first HOME was placed in our hands. A blank canvas for future memories of becoming husband and wife, bringing our babies home from the hospital, raising a family, and building our life.

The day the question was finally popped! We navigated so many speedbumps along the way... so many different attempts and hopes by Carson to ask me, but life, jewelers, and COVID all had other plans. When it finally did happen, though, it was the most perfect moment... and definitely explained why Carson's legs were shaking during the entirety of our Tallulah Gorge hike!

"Today's the day I'll make you mine So get me to the church on time Take my hand in this empty room You're my girl, and I'm your groom Come to me my sweetest friend This is where we start again." The best memory that hasn't happened yet... The day we will say "I do!" to forever together.