HALLE'S SIDE

To say it was fate would be a stretch—we just have really great taste in friends.

It was the last week of January 2023, and my friend Sydney invited me to her apartment warming. I showed up that Saturday expecting a totally normal night: normal people, normal activities, normal conversations. Someone might have casually mentioned our friend James bringing a guy he knew from Baylor, but I didn’t think anything of it.

Then Emerson walked in.

The second he did, I swear every one of my girlfriends turned to look at me. At least, that’s how it felt. They leaned across the table and whispered, “That’s Emerson. He’s James’ friend. We think you two would be perfect together.”

Unbeknownst to me, they had all hung out the weekend before and planned to set us up that night—just forgot to loop me in. So there I was, in leggings and a sweatshirt, totally unprepared. But he was cute. So I went over, introduced myself, and ended up getting talked into joining the group for a night out.

I ran home, changed, and met them at Skellig, where Emerson and I ended up talking most of the night. He was funny and kind—two of the things I still love most about him. And in those first few weeks of dating, I quickly saw that he was also intentional and persistent. He always followed through. He never left me guessing about how he felt.

He didn’t ask for my heart—he earned it.

Emerson is every prayer I’ve ever prayed, and I’m still in awe that God gave me him. I can’t wait for forever.

EMERSON'S SIDE

During the spring semester of our senior year at Baylor, I was living in Dallas for an internship. One of my Baylor friends, James, was also up there in the Nursing program. Before I met Halle, James had invited me to hang out with two of his nursing friends—Sydney and Brooklyn. Being new to Dallas, I said yes. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Sydney happened to be Halle’s old roommate… and that this night out would be the start of something much bigger.

The next week, James invited me to Sydney’s “apartment warming” party. I had other plans with some friends from Waco who were in town, but then Sydney texted me on the side to come. That’s when I started to get the feeling there might be more to this invite.

I showed up late to the party and the first new person I met was Halle. I said hi to the familiar faces, I still remember the blue sweater she was wearing that night. From our first conversation, I was hooked. As the night went on, we found ourselves off to the side, just the two of us, swapping stories about everything from cheesecake to our families to our shared nerdy obsessions.

From that night on, things just felt easy with her. I never expected that one random night in Dallas would lead to all of this, but I’m so glad it did. Two and a half years later, I’m still learning from her, laughing with her, and grateful for every moment we get to share.