OUR STORY
Mason and I had several mutual friends in college (yes, April and Kevin are thrilled that I found a Fightin' Texas Aggie to add to the family!) but we only met once. One night, I was studying at Lupa's Coffee (RIP) with a friend when we ran into Mason, her coworker. She introduced me (thanks Val!), they chatted for a few minutes, he followed me on Instagram afterwards, and that was that.
Josie
Cut to July of 2020. Global pandemic, living at home, working remotely-in short, not a lot happening in my social life. I see that Mason is in Houston too and I shoot my shot. If that's not a 2020 love story I don't know what is.
When Josie DM'd me I was in the back seat with my friends Lauren and Hayley and I tried to keep my cool (as girls usually don't dm me) and said "Guys, what do I do? A girl just dm'd me!" They encouraged me to go for it if I was interested, and I was. We didn't end up getting coffee as mentioned in the DM's and had our first date at Midnight Slice in Seabrook. Somehow I swooned her enough to keep getting to go on dates with her and now we are here!
Mason
Josie
Mason
Josie and I got to know each other well by spending time together in the Heights. We spent a lot of time walking around my neighborhood having good conversations and greeting all the dogs we walked by. Although we love my roommates we did need some time to ourselves and a lot of that time was spent exploring all the fun stores and restaurants the Heights has to offer. So if you need a restaurant or bar recommendation in the heights please let us know!
Josie
In March 2021 Josie and I went on our first big trip together to Seattle. Seattle was the first time Josie and I had spent several days together and we were both hoping it would go well. As you can tell, it was great and we saw many sights, did all the touristy things, and spent time traveling to Bainbridge Island (for Josie) and Olympic National Park (for me).
My secret hope was that our Seattle trip would give Mason the travel bug and I would be able to drag him all around the world with me. Judging by our plans now, I think it worked!
While living at home for the first year of our relationship was not my ideal scenario at the time (hi, not being able to find a post-grad roommate in a pandemic!), it meant that Mason spent a lot of time in League City and got to get close with my family a lot faster than he would have otherwise. Looking back now, I am really thankful for that period of time.
Mason
Josie
Stephanie and I decided that she should make plans with Josie to take fun pictures at the Houston Arboretum while I was out of town. I designated a spot for Stephanie to try to take Josie for our engagement and once they got there I came a little later and spent a few minutes on Find My Friends trying to track them down. I ended up being able to sneak up behind Josie at the spot I asked them to go and once I started talking she started to cry and said "Don't look at me!" I responded, "You have to look at me!" and then I proposed :)
Mason
I didn't know that the proposal was going to be that day, but I kind of knew. Mason hiding his location from me a few days before was definitely a tip off, and Stephanie was so nervous I could tell something was up. I know Mason and Stephanie so well I don't think there was any way they could have completely caught me off guard, but they did a great job and I thought it was perfect! (I'm told that when Stephanie and Carlos slunk off behind some bushes, Stephanie fell taking the picture above. A true friend.) Mason had made dinner plans at Sonoma, a wine bar and restaurant in the Heights which was the perfect end to the evening, and surprised me by inviting my parents.
Josie
For our proposal, I thought I was being very sneaky. I was planning on going to a comedy show in Austin with my roommates, Connor and Douglas, and tried to tell Josie pretty often that I was going to be out of town that weekend and suggested she should try to make plans with her friend Stephanie. But little did she know I had already been colluding with Stephanie to help me plan our proposal.
Mason
HERE'S TO THE
BEGINNING OF
THE REST OF OUR
LIFE TOGETHER
