In the fall of 2011, loonnnggggg before we fell in love, Freshman Jesse (me) worked up the courage to ask Atley (super hot and intimidating Sophomore) for a picture....and this is what we ended up with. And I wonder why she says I was too wild and she was afraid of me when we were in school.
Years later, in the spring of 2014, Atley and I ended up in the same class, The History of Rock and Roll. After days of small talk, Atley asked me to hangout with her after class. Little did I know she wanted to workout... We went for a jog and ended up talking for ~6 hours. Following that day we hung out 33 days in a row and I was hooked. My friends dubbed it “love on the run”, which is to be condescendingly said/sung in the melody of “Band On The Run” by The Beatles.
We quickly began dating and later moved in together. Over the next several years we took on over 10 different roommates and moved more than 5 times in 5 years. This was just one of the ways that I put Atley through the ringer to test her patience and sanity.
We finally said enough with moving and decided to begin our biggest project to date, creating a home of our own! We will never forever sleeping on a deflated air mattress on the floor surrounded by saw dust and nails. With lots of help from friends and family, we were able to have the house in what we call "livable conditions" in just 3 months. Atley cracked the whip to keep Jesse vigilant while renovating our dreamy, cozy house and it all paid off. We learned a lot of lessons the hard way, but we are truly obsessed with the finished project.
After 6 years of dating, I knew it was game time! While packing for a weekend getaway, my Aunt Donna recommended I pack the ring and let it rip while in Charleston, SC. I told her I already had a proposal planned, but took her advice and packed the ring anyways. After dancing around the room in fancy robes, I sang Atley an Eric Church song over breakfast in bed and it felt like it was now or never... it turned out to be quite romantic.
After 10 years of college, Atley accomplished her dream of becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and I became a Master Plumber. We both love what we do for work and the life that we have created together. We are so incredibly grateful for all of the memories we have made over the past 7 years and for our friends and family (that means you). We are counting down the days and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage with you all!