Once upon a time a long, long, time ago, in a far, far away place...

Oh come on stick with us now, it's kind of like a fairy tale!!

Steven & Tara's story started about 20 years ago (YIKES!) some time in December 2004.

They met at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Steven was enrolled at Kirkwood and, he says he was attending classes but let's be honest, probably only partially. He spent a lot of that winter building snow"men" and staying hydrated with "water" and practicing his "hand"stands.

Tara was enrolled at Iowa Western Community College and honestly was completely boring. Between school and working she had ZERO social life mostly because her partner in "good angel behavior" left her to go to college 5 hours away.

Which brings us to Heather, said friend of Tara's who left her and was also attending-ish classes through Kirkwood. Heather was meeting new people, like Seth and yep you guessed it our very own Groom, during her night time "study groups" but she was bored and needed her partner in "good angel behavior" to come visit.

(^^very talented artwork pieces were made of snow at Kirkwood College...and yes that is what you think it is^^)

Heather didn't have to be convincing to get Tara to come visit. Between the stories of snow"men" building, line dancing, and a really decent looking guy not to mention a weekend off work and school, Tara was all in! It sounded AH AH AH Mazing!

ROAD TRIP...#1!

Was such a fun weekend! Though the promise of a really decent looking, nice guy fell short it was still great to get away and hang out. Steven happened to be back home for the weekend...for a funeral. So Heather insisted Tara come back up another weekend because she just HAD had to meet him.

ROAD TRIP...#2!

When Tara got up there for the 2nd time, Heather was running late. She told Tara just go knock on the door someone will let you in and I'll be there soon. Not exactly sure which door she was supposed to be knocking on (all the dorms looked the same) Tara knocked on one anyway and Steven answered.

Tara: "Uh Hi, I'm Tara...Heather's friend, she's on her way here. Are you Steven?"

Steven: "Hey yea, come on in, beer is in the fridge help yourself."

Tara's brain: **Omg, Heather was right, he is hot. Don't act dumb! Use your words. Where the heck is Heather??**

Steven's brain: **Holy hell this girl is gorgeous, where did she come from?**

SIDE NOTE: Steven had ZERO idea Heather was trying to play match maker. He just assumed Tara was just another random girl from campus coming over for the usual weekend party.

And from that "knock on the door" moment on the two of them just clicked. Like a ying and yang, they connected in the best ways.

(^^Classy Couple aren't they??^^)

Although their relationship was young and immature it was also beautiful and unmatched. They were together on/off almost 3 years. They moved together in unison, a solid relationship that they fought to try to keep going even through the most heartbreaking moment in their lives.

Not every story is perfect...some have bumps along the way and their story was no different...

No matter how hard they fought the two of them eventually went in separate directions. There was no animosity or anger toward each other just separate roads.

Steven's road took him on a journey of travel so to speak...

He joined the Army, was deployed to Afghanistan, and was honorably medically discharged.

He has a beautiful daughter...Bianca and was proud to raise/be the father to her older sister Angel whom he met when she was 10 months old.

After his discharge from the military things were slightly rough and he spent 8 years in Federal Prison.

Tara's road took her on the journey of college & being wife/mother.

She went back to college & graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and worked in a host of Criminal Justice type positions.

She also married, though her marriage started to fall apart after about ten years.

She is blessed to be the proud mom of three beautiful children...Raelinn, Shaylee and Caleb from that union.

Through our lovely officiant just as she connected Tara & Steven all those years ago she made a few hints that brought them together again.

It started off slow, first messaging through Facebook seeing what each of them had been doing over the past years to eventually deciding to meet in person again.

Though the universe may have tried to keep them apart by creating a huge snow storm the night they were supposed to meet again. That did NOT stop Steven from driving the 2 1/2 hours to see Tara.

The minute they saw each other again it was just like a movie as if no time between them had ever passed...snow falling hard from the sky and the two of them ran to each other and Tara jumped into Steven's arms almost knocking both of them over!

It was at that moment both realized what had been missing for so long in both of their hearts...the other half. Together at last...Always & Forever!

After asking Tara's Dad for his permission (again) & being told this time the question really wasn't for him to answer...Steven asked Tara's kids & enlisted the help of both Tara's daughters in picking out the perfect ring for her.

Steven knew the BEST time to propose would be at our Friend's Thanksmas we had planned December 18, 2024. He ordered the ring just after Thanksgiving and was so nervous because he knew Shaylee's is HORRIBLE at keeping secrets but she kept this one quite well.

As the day grew closer the ring still wasn't here...still wanting to propose that evening with a little help he quickly came up with a plan B.

With friends & Tara's kids all around recording the whole time...Steven got down on one knee & yep, it's true...He proposed with a ring pop!! <3

And of course, Tara said YES! <3

The actual ring Steven & the kid's picked out showed up on Christmas Eve but she still has that ring pop!