It was early 2018, and Gracie had recently transferred to the University of Memphis from Ole Miss. Brandon, an active member of his fraternity at Memphis, was at one of their many house parties. Gracie decided to tag along with a group of friends, and that night, our paths crossed for the very first time. As you can imagine a party filled with young 20 year olds, I'll leave our first introduction to the imagination.

Throughout that summer, Brandon and Gracie started chatting on Snapchat (yes, the 2,350+ day streak is still going strong) and grew closer with each passing day. They say the best relationships start as friendships, and if you ask Gracie, that’s exactly what they were—just friends. But if you ask Brandon, he’d tell you it was all part of his plan. Slowly but surely, he was laying the groundwork to ask her on their first date.

Towards the end of 2018, Gracie finally agreed to go on a date with Brandon. Knowing how much she loved a good steak dinner, Brandon wasted no time booking a reservation at Paulette’s in Harbor Town (a spot that’ll come up again later). When the big night arrived, Gracie (who will now admit she was incredibly nervous) was secretly dreading the idea of eating a steak in front of Brandon on their first date. To make matters even trickier, she was only 20 and couldn’t order a drink, so she played it safe with... a wedge salad and water. Brandon, expecting her to dive into a filet mignon, was momentarily speechless. All those steak dinner conversations, and she ordered a salad! Despite the curveball, the date was a blast. Brandon still jokes that it's the cheapest dinner I've had since.

Finally, on December 22nd in 2018, while on a trip in New Orleans for Brandon's fraternity formal, we decided to make it official. And from there, the rest is history.