Our Story (Katie's Version): Our story began on July 22nd of 2025 when Cory liked my photo on Hinge and then sent me the best message to attempt to swoon a math teacher, "What is the slope of a line?" Well, it must've worked because we had our very first date a short time later on July 30th at the local Mexican restaurant in Richardson, Amigos. We have been pretty much inseparable from that time and our relationship has continued to grow deeper each day. We have spent numerous hours singing to Taylor Swift, dancing the two-step, going to comedy shows, and playing board games (he beats me every time and it’s annoying). One of our first few dates was at Four Day Weekend Comedy Club in Dallas (I highly recommend everyone goes if you get the chance). We sat in the front row which, though I didn’t realize at the time, made us potential targets for the comedy sketches. The main guy asked us a bit about ourselves and then everyone in the comedy troupe actually wrote a song about us- it was the coolest thing ever! I love Cory’s laugh and I got to hear it on full-volume probably for the first time that day. We also play Pickleball weekly with my Life Group from Prestonwood. Cory is excellent at Pickleball and never complains when I severely detract from our win-ability! I quickly fell for Cory’s ability to take small moments and gestures and really cherish and appreciate them. He is constantly taking photos of our time together and I have loved that because now we get to look back on all of the small and large moments that helped us grow to where we are now. Cory came into my life and has shown me how to love and be loved, has has been grace-personified, and has a genuine heart for Jesus. He is kind, and sweet and just what I wanted and needed in my life. I am grateful each day to God for bringing Cory into my life. One of my favorite memories together was when we took a trip to Silverton, Colorado in October were we attempted to hike our first 14-er, Handes Peak. I say "attempted" because it was raining/snowing for a good bit of the time and right after we took a photo to commemorate our almost-halfway-mark, we heard and saw 2-3 wolves (or maybe they were coyotes, but we are going to continue to claim they were wolves for dramatic effect), to the left of us about a 100 yards away and then not even a minute later heard another couple of "wolves" on our other side another 100 yards away. I was PANICKING to say the least, but Cory did, as he always does, and calmed me with his reassurance and prayers for safety. Nevertheless, this was an eventful and exciting moment in our relationship where we got to experience and encourage each other through a challenging and fun time. I can’t wait for lifetime of love with my sweet Cory! We are so blessed by the many people in each of our individual lives and are excited to continue to blend our lives and our "people" together over the many years to come. Thank you for your support and love as we journey toward our marriage. We aspire to keep Jesus the focus of our ceremony and are excited to worship with you as we celebrate and commemorate the covenant we will make with the Lord. We are blessed to call each of you family we have thoughtfully hand-picked the people we have invited to our special day and we cannot wait to celebrate with you on March 6th at 5:00pm!

Our Story (Cory's Version): I’m not sure why, but I’ve always had a thing for math teachers. I knew I liked Katie the second we started talking. I don’t know exactly what kind of blouse she was wearing on our first date, but I always tell her how much I liked it. I’ll never forget our second date because we celebrated Katie’s 33rd birthday. I made her put on one of those cone hats and we took our first photo together at Cane Rosso. It was a special celebration for two reasons – she had officially roamed the earth the same amount of time that Jesus had and I gave her a bracelet from James Avery with a cross and heart pendant on it. The bracelet that could remind her that God loves us so much that he gave his one and only son for us – a gift that would last a lifetime.

We continued to spend lots of quality time together, we got a song made about us at Four Day Weekend comedy show, I somehow convinced her to play on my company’s softball team, we played lots of pickleball at Finch Park in Mckinney with her friends and she went to a Rangers game with my friends. Things were starting to get serious. I realized I was falling in love with a woman that I had been searching for my whole life, and I was not going to let the moment pass me by. I summoned the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend and told her that she has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, and I couldn’t let them go to just anyone.

After that, conversations got deep. Literally. We played the game “Lets Get Deep” which is a card game designed for couples to foster connection through categorized questions on a deck of cards. Our connection became the top of our priority list. You see, Katie is a highly intelligent person, one of the smartest people in the room by far. She is real, she is honest, and she is loving – all of which I completely adore about her - but the thing that draws me so close to her, is her unconditional love for Jesus and her Faith. I absolutely enjoy singing and worshiping with her at Watermark, even though she admits that I’m tone deaf. I like the bible study at Prestonwood, it reminds us to pick up our cross and carry it daily. But our prayers for each other have carried us through the ups and downs. Katie is a gift from God, angel-like in a sense. She brings out the best of me and reminds me of how well I do at being a spiritual leader in our relationship. The best gift I can give her is an intimate relationship with Christ…and trips to waterfalls.

Before our first trip to Colorado, I knew I wanted to marry Katie. I absolutely fell head over heels and deeply in love with her during that trip. It was one of our most memorable times. We attempted our first 14er hike but only made it to 13,000 feet because of a wolf scare. I enjoyed just being out in the wilderness, on the side of a mountain, being challenged, pushing up the trail. I loved taking in all the scenery, seeing all the little waterfalls, eating gushers, sucking oxygen cans, and licking snowflakes. But more than anything, I was so happy Katie was there to experience it all with me. It was at this point, I knew I was going to marry her..

..but I had to figure out how to convince her of this and then go about asking the question. This part turned out to be a bit trickier than what I thought it was going to be. I didn’t realize Katie and her family were surprise ruiners. Her mom had to know all the details, and it didn’t help that Katie can track my location through Apple’s “find my” app. I bought tickets to a Taylor Swift on strings candlelight concert (because Taylor Swift is necessary in Katie’s world) and I figured what better time to propose than that day. I chose one of the prettiest waterfalls nearby, and conspired with my sister, Krystal, to scope the place out and get her a wig to make sure she wasn’t recognized while she captured the whole thing on video. Katie knew a proposal was coming, but I don’t think she knew exactly when…that was until her mom and sister gave her some pretty good hints, hence the name “surprise ruiner”. The day arrived and I would say everything went well except for the fact that I dropped the ring and it almost went into the river. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our concert and a wonderful dinner at a delicious steakhouse.

It's hard to contemplate life without Katie – she is simply the best. I didn’t expect her, I didn’t see her coming. I knew exactly what I was searching for but didn’t think I would find anything. But through God’s grace, Katie has become my everything. She walked into my life so quietly and yet changed everything so loudly. With her, love feels calm, not chaotic. Safe, not confusing. Only God knows what the future holds, but if it’s with her, I’m not afraid of it. I desire it. She makes life feel softer, and my heart feel seen. I appreciate her not only for what she does, but for who she is and how she makes me feel. Katie recognizes that I embody characteristics of a man who has humbly sought to change his life and move forward with the Kingdom of the God, learning the beauty Jesus created for us and keeping Him at the center.

From handshakes to high-fives, Katie has become such a big part of my life – she is the sweetest person I’ve met and is truly a blessing. Her words always melt my heart and each day she shows me what it feels like to feel truly loved. Thanks to her, she makes my heart happy, I smile more, laugh a little harder, and cry a little less. She is so wonderful and amazing – my heart will always be hers. If only if she could see herself how I see her, then she’d know she is perfect just as she is. I promise to love her forever, to keep her happy, always protect her and keep her safe. I’d choose her; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d search and find her, over and over again.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!