MATCHED on BUMBLE! He sent me a Match Request on Bumble! This picture is a screenshot of his Bumble Profile. I thought: what the heck does he want from me??? He's WAAAAY too cute....but ok, I'm curious, can't hurt to see what he wants, even though he has a dog, and I never accept match requests from guys with dogs, cause I have four bunnies...but I decided to accept his request anyway.

FIRST DATE: TEXAS ROADHOUSE! - after talking on Bumble for a few weeks, about things like traveling, family, work life, likes/dislikes, dating life, God, beliefs, overcoming trials, etc …he finally asked for my phone number and then immediately asked me out to dinner to my favorite restaurant! When I saw him, I thought: "oh my, he's even cuter in person!"...he greeted me with a hug, and held the door open for me as he walked me into Texas Roadhouse. We spent at least 2 hours at the Restaurant, talking, while very slowly eating our dinner. Afterwards he walked me to my car as he put his jacket around my shoulders and we continued talking standing by my car. He told me I have a cute smile, and then he grabbed my chin and told me that my mole is cute (the one on my chin), and then he went in for the Kiss 😊 I remember thinking: is this real life?!

On Christmas Eve, Darrell asked out Tammy for their second Date. (Tammy was in Idaho from Dec 20-27 visiting her Family)

SECOND DATE: NEW YEARS EVE! - it was magical :) He took me out to a fancy 5-course dinner (which I didn’t eat much of, lol, too fancy for me, haha – we did later after midnight grab some chicken quesadillas, cause we were both hungry)… the evening was fun, we went to a downtown Houston rooftop party, we sat for a caricature painting of us; we watched amazing fireworks.

THIRD DATE: TORCHY’s TACOS. He told me that he told his parents about his new girlfriend, ME! 😊 after two dates, he decided I’m his girlfriend now, how refreshing to meet someone who knows what he wants, instead of playing games 😊 But then I also was straightforward with him. I told him, if I am his Girlfriend, then I expect either a proposal or a breakup, within one year. He told me that he would want to date a girl for at least two years before deciding to marry her. I told him, that it only takes a year or less to know for sure what you want. And if you don’t know and have doubts, then that is your answer and then I expect you to break up with me. And I will give you the same courtesy…as soon as I realize that you are not the one for me, I will also break up with you. We should not be wasting each others time. I have wasted too many years of my life on men who didn’t know what they want. And I don’t have the time nor energy for that anymore! Did I scare him away with my request??? I knew I absolutely could, but I did not care anymore, and surprisingly I didn’t! PICTURE: it's not Torchy's, but this was one of many dinner dates in January.

CHURCH! - He took me to Church and introduced me to his parents. - this picture is not of our first Sunday at Church together, but he's taken me to church ever since.

We drove 3 hours to Dripping Springs – I introduced him to my sister and her Family. My Niece and Nephew immediately liked him. Josie started giving him tips on how to propose to me. Surprisingly, this did not scare him either, but he played along and asked her more questions to get more detailed advice from her 😊

I found this sweet Note in my Vitamin Bottle. Is this real life?!!!! Somebody pinch me, haha. But even with this amazing month so far, I still was keeping my guard up a bit, I did not want to fall too hard too fast…still getting to know him. But the following week something happened that showed me, that there is definitely potential with this guy 😊

Today’s Date Night: ER visit! I had 102 fever for several days already and now suddenly I was having breathing issues. Long Story short: it was a very scary experience, not even the ER doctors could help, but without Darrell this would have been even worse. I remember sitting on that hospital bed, crying, terrified (because they were filling out my discharge papers, not knowing what is wrong with me and not willing to keep me for further observations), I had cold sweats, and I had a shirt on without a bra underneath, because this started happening right after my shower, so I couldn’t completely get dressed and had just put a shirt on real quick and sweatpants…and I was sitting there thinking (even though I was terrified), but yet I was still self-conscious about the way I must be looking to him at this very moment, my new boyfriend. No bra, boobs hanging, lol, no make-up, crying, sweating…I was a mess. But for the rest of the night, he kept reassuring me that he won’t let anything happen to me, and if need be, he would breathe for me, if I pass out. He was so calm and helpful and coached me through it. I am so grateful for Darrell! That day things changed for me, and I realized, this guy is marriage material!

DARRELL’s BIRTHDAY - We celebrated his 37th Birthday. I made him a green cake, because green is his favorite color. Also, …at some point in March, he had asked me, if I would say Yes, if he were to ask me to marry him. I told him, let's wait a few more months.

TAMMY’s BIRTHAY – we celebrated my 39th Birthday. He took me out to a Brazilian Steakhouse, it was super delicious! Yummy cheesecake dessert with a birthday candle. Afterwards he took me to an Observatory that he had reserved for us. There was an astronomer waiting for us, who showed us stars and the moon through huge telescopes, and explained things. It was really interesting. And my birthday gift was a certificate of a star that Darrell had named after me with a sweet message on it from him. He makes me feel very special and spoiled.

Don’t mean to be mysterious, one day I might share the full story, but this was a huge significant day, that could have ended very VERY badly, but our pleading prayers were answered, and we received the best positive news EVER. Surrounded by a few family members, I was crying for joy, and he was hugging me tightly and he whispered in my ear: “I wish I had a ring right now!” Then we went with family to a nice restaurant to celebrate! I was on CLOUD NINE!!! Even though it was not official with a ring, but we all knew, that we were celebrating us, and that nothing & nobody can keep us from each other now!

We travelled to Idaho, so that I could introduce him to my parents. And even though my Family already knew that we want to get married; I later on found out, that he did have a private conversation with my Dad, just to make sure he approved of Darrell marrying me 😉

Darrell received a Job Offer in Port Sulphur (New Orleans), Louisiana! And that pushed us to make decisions quickly! Do we continue dating long distance?! We both immediately agreed we did not want that! But do I move to another state with him, away from my Family, and temporarily closing my Tammy’s Toppers business for “just a boyfriend”? Heck no, haha! But we had already known that we wanted to get married, so this just kinda fast-tracked everything. We went to the County Clerk’s Office to pick up a marriage license (we tried to elope before leaving Texas, but you have to wait 72 hours after receiving the marriage license, so we had to move to Louisiana without getting married) Today was Darrell's first day at the new job site...and afterwards we signed a one-year lease for our very first apartment together.

Even though in our hearts we were already engaged to each other since June (and he had been introducing me as his Fiancé for a while already), but he still officially asked me tonight to be his Wife with a beautiful Ring, after we had spent the day exploring New Orleans together, and he counted down to today with sweet little daily love notes to me. BUT later that night, at 9 pm!!! We actually eloped! We were so ready to officially start our life together as Mr. and Mrs. APPLE!!! 😊

One year flies by SO FAST, but at the same time SO MUCH can happen in one year. Never thought that today, exactly one year after our First Date at Texas Roadhouse, now we are back here having Dinner as Husband and Wife 😊 …and Darrell said: “I never thought that I was ever gonna get married, …but then I met you!” 😊