I had gone to the Woodlands for a girls weekend with a few of my girlfriends, Lauren, Ariel and Julia. One night, we decided to go out to a new bar that had just opened and have a few drinks. We were laughing and chatting when a group of guys came up to us asking if they could sit with us at the picnic table we had camped out at. Nate would probably argue we were staring at them- I would argue we were definitely people watching. I was chatting away with Lauren and Ariel when I heard someone behind me say, "Scoot over, you're in my seat!" I remember whipping around thinking, "Who does this guy think he is!" That guy was Nate Cooper. Nate struck up a conversation, or more of an argument that to this day, neither of us can remember what it was about, but I DO remember how much he made me laugh, made me feel oddly comfortable, and how he kept me on my toes with his banter. (To the point that I was tricked into buying HIS drink!) By the end of the night, we exchanged phone numbers. As fun as it was, I figured I would never see this guy again, as I was moving to Arizona shortly after. But texts turned to facetiming and facetiming turned into plane tickets. Soon, we were inseparable. We flew back and forth to see each other often. First, San Antonio, then Albuquerque, Tucson and now Japan. We always joke that we are pretty bad at long distance, considering how often we are lucky enough to see one another. God has always provided in our relationship, and it makes me emotional to think about how our paths were randomly crossed and changed forever that night. Now our next adventure will take us to Okinawa, Japan, together!

I had always heard that you meet the love of your life when you least expect it and somewhere youd never guess. After a week of paramedic clinicals, some friends and I decided to go to a bar we had never been to, in a city none of us lived in. The plan was to unwind with a couple beers and a basketball game, but the plan quickly changed when my buddy said bro... and smacked me on the shoulder.
Ill never forget the feeling of my heart falling through the floor when I looked over my shoulder and saw the hot tall blonde in pink. She was in a group but that didnt matter. My eyes went immediately to her, my mind went immediately to racing, and my heart went immediately to thumping.
After the group of girls went and sat down at a picnic table the three of us decided maybe we should walk past them and see if they look at us. Ive never stood as tall or proud walking by. If they actually looked at us might still be a point of debate, but regardless of what actually happened I got the bro theyre looking at us and thats all I needed to whip my head around in hope. What I saw was a group of girls giggling and looking at us like they were on the playground. They might as well have been pointing too. We reversed course and I managed to take a couple deep breaths trying to manage the nerves and excitement before we got to their table.
Unfortunately, I did not immediately sit next to Sofie. She was on the far end sitting by her friend, and the easiest most nonchalant place to sit was the opposite (and farthest) side. We had to establish rapport and make sure it was even okay to crash their girl party. Once it was clear they werent going to tell us to kick rocks, it was time to make my move, literally, and figure out a way to sit next to the most gorgeous girl in the place.
What I came up with... was not clever. Not in the slightest. Looking back, it was VERY high risk, and Im overcome with gratitude it worked. I walked up to her and said scoot over, youre in my seat. Her face was priceless! The shock, and confusion, and slightly offended look she gave was HILARIOUS. However, I guess it worked, and despite her thoughts of who is this guy? we started talking.
First thing I noticed was she was smart! She was already somebody and was most definitely going to be somebody. Her ambition was impressive and her accomplishments at TAMU and professionally left me, well, impressed. The second thing I noticed was she was kinda... weird. Pneumothorax, I know what that is. I had a spontaneous pneumo once! The conversation was so easy, and the banter was great. Its like everyone else around us faded out and we were in our own worlds. I remember looking up at one point and seeing the smirks on the faces of her friends and realizing wow, is it that obvious that I am very into her?
Eventually our drinks run out and Sofie thought she was going to be slick and play me like a fool. I think this is the second point in the night I shock Sofie. She notices our drinks are empty and asks can I get you another drink? fully expecting me to hop to and say no I got it, what can I get you sweetheart? INSTEAD, and mostly because I was having so much fun teasing her and very much enjoyed the banter and getting her riled up, said yes, please with a big fat grin.
I dearly wish I could remember what we were talking about that night. Whatever it was, it was really getting her fired up. I know it wasnt about any fake jobs or fake stories, I had already told her those earlier in the night, and despite telling her before hand that they were FAKE, she still believed me. I got a great laugh out of that. Anyways, she was getting very passionate, leaning forward, probably calling me names, and I had no other choice but the hit her with the time-out (see photo) and let her know whats up. I cant believe she didnt walk away. Something tells me she was having just as much fun as I was.