It all started with a little app called Tinder. I had just recently moved to Florida & was starting fresh in a new state. I had just enrolled in beauty school, finally got my drivers license & my first car & was just enjoying the newness of Florida.


Around August, Zac “super liked” me. I was living in Winter Haven & his location showed “Clearwater, FL 70 miles away”. I swiped right just to see what would happen. I wasn’t looking for anything serious, just trying to meet new people, and I SWORE on everything I’d never drive on the highway so Clearwater seemed WAY out of the question for me. We started talking here and there but I kept my distance at first. The more we talked, the more I got the feeling that he was going to be something permanent in my life & that was SCARY. I started to open up a lot more after getting to really know his personality & his constant responses to my sunset pictures telling me “that sunset is ALMOST as beautiful as you”… before you know it we were talking daily.


We had our first date on September 28th, 2020. He drove his corvette all the way from Clearwater to Winter Haven to pick me up & we spent an entire day in Lakeland window shopping, getting dinner at Chilis, walking around Lake Morton getting followed by swans and giant birds. We spent 12+ hours together, I never wanted the night to end.


As the days went on, things were getting serious & I started driving out to Clearwater every single weekend to spend the weekends with him & VERY early morning on November 1st 2020, Zac made things official.


I continued making that drive every weekend for almost a year(yes, on the HIGHWAY!!). Job changes & car problems led to me leaving school in 2021 & in September of that year we moved in together in beautiful Clearwater FL right near his family & we adopted our little kitties.


Life with this man was, and still is, storybook. I wish I could say it’s all been easy going throughout the last five years, but that’d be a lie. Moving in together was a learning curve at first, the unexpected loss of my mother, job challenges, mental health, money, family, friends… and yet, the one constant the last 5 years has been Zachary. he has never ONCE wavered. Not only has he stood by my side through the hardest days of my life, he has given me the best opportunities & supported EVERY idea and decision I’ve made through the years & I am SO damn grateful such a magnificent love came from such a silly little app. It’s so cheesy to say “when you know, you know” but I swear on everything.. call it fate, call it destiny, call it butterflies… I knew this man would be my husband & I couldn’t be more happy that I was right!

It all started with a Super Like.

I came across Destiney on Tinder and instantly knew—this is the one. I told myself right then that she was the only girl I’d seriously want to be in a relationship with. When you know, you know, right?

At first, we didn’t talk a ton—mostly little moments when she’d post sunsets on her Snapchat story, and I’d message something like, “Almost as gorgeous as you.” (Smooth, I know.)

Destiney lived in Winter Haven, about an hour and a half away, so it took a little time to actually meet up. When we finally did, I drove out in my Corvette to pick her up. As she got in, she hit her vape (back when that was still our thing), and I casually stuck my hand out, asking for a hit. Instead, she placed her hand in mine. I wasn’t expecting that and said, “Oh—I meant the vape… but I’ll definitely hold your hand too!” We both laughed and yeah, it was adorably awkward—but in the best way.

For our first date, we kept it simple. We wandered around stores and plazas, just talking and window shopping. Later, we grabbed dinner at Chili’s—one of Destiney’s favorites. (She still gets the same triple dipper every time—minus the Jack and Coke!)

When the night came, we weren’t ready for it to end. We found a nearby lake—pretty sure it was called Swan Lake—and decided to keep chatting there. What we didn’t know was that the swans (and their creepy bird friends) were territorial. Like… chase-you-back-to-your-car territorial. So, we ran for it, laughing the whole way.

After that night, we talked more and saw each other whenever we could. Not long after, during a little Halloween party at her family’s place, we made it official—and the rest is history.

A couple years later, I planned to propose at Enchanted, a beautiful Christmas light maze. Only one problem: the ring in my pocket kept setting off the security detector on the way in. Every time I tried to walk through, it beeped. Somehow, I managed to get through without being noticed and without ruining the surprise.

Ironically, Destiney—who always wants pictures at places like that—didn’t want to stop for any this time. But when we got to the massive Christmas tree in the center, I asked if we could take just one. I found someone nearby and asked them to record it instead.

Right there in front of the tree, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.

And thankfully… she said yes. Now we're here, planning the biggest day of our lives & I'm so excited for everything to come.