Jody and Lauren's Wedding in Fort Worth, Texas

We arrive at the pub, and unbeknownst to either of us, we had both been frequenting that bar with our individual friend groups during the same time span, for YEARS - just on different days.Thanks universe!

We sit and chat and continue to catch up on the last 10 years of our lives. Jody slyly throws in the fact that he donated the Texas Tech Darth Vader Helmet to the pub that now sits above the bar.I just sit there and wonder why anyone would have a Texas Tech Darth Vader Helmet? As midnight rolls around, we head back to my apartment because my neighbors planned to hang out on the patio (think Melrose Place), and I had invited Jody to join us.

So, we hang out with my neighbors until 4 a.m., laughing, cooking and sharing various late-night bites while listening to music. Jody and I end up sleeping on my couch and waking up three hours later to me insisting on us going to my favorite breakfast place, Busy B's Bakery. We eat kolaches and then part ways, on what must be the longest, weirdest, and best first date either of us ever had! We still get breakfast from Busy B's (it's our go-to spot), and as we have said since that day in October six years ago, we are still grabbing drinks together, laughing and having so much fun together.

So here we find ourselves together 7 years later, I now teach at All Saints,' and Jody and I are getting married at our alma mater. This school means so much to us, so it only felt right to get married in our school's chapel. Although the campus has moved a few miles to the west of the original campus where we met, the heart and soul of the place feels the same. Many of our teachers are still here.

Although we had to greatly scale back our wedding from 130 people to 17, we loved every moment of the day. It felt effortless. Like it was meant to be this small all along, with just our closest family around us. Everything was perfect. Everyone arrived on time (or even early)! We ended the night with a small dinner at Ridglea Country Club, instead of a big reception.

Honestly, living in a COVID world, I thought it was going to be a sad day not having everyone there. But in reality, it was beyond perfect, and I cannot be more happy that we were able to keep our original date, and just end 2020 on an absolute high note!