Ryan and I met how a lot of couples meet these days: Hinge. It was mainly just a way for him to get my number and for me to ask him a million very personal questions prior to our first date.

We set a date for Saturday, September 21st, at the well-renowned and very fancy restaurant of Jonesboro: the Lemonade House Grille. Ryan had suggested the only truly fancy restaurant in town, but fearing another letdown, I suggested ol’ reliable LHG instead.

I remember walking up to the restaurant and seeing Ryan standing outside, earlier than me, of course. We sat at the bar, ordered two Diet Cokes, and started talking—and really never stopped.

Later, when discussing our first date, Ryan revealed that at one point he went into the bathroom thinking to himself, “I better not mess this up.” Meanwhile, I went into the bathroom, reapplied my lip gloss, and found myself pleasantly surprised by just how genuinely well the date was going.

So well, in fact, that a secondary location was suggested: Andy’s Frozen Custard. After I introduced him to the S’mores Jackhammer, Ryan was positively smitten. Whether with me or the Jackhammer remains up for debate.

As we sat in my car outside LHG at the end of the night, Ryan asked me on a second date. Tomorrow. I declined, mostly because I was convinced this was all a little too good to be true. We still ended up going on two more dates that same week.

Six weeks later, we traveled to Nashville for his Vanderbilt reunion. Neither of us knew then that almost exactly a year later, we’d be back in Nashville, where Ryan would ask me to marry him in Centennial Park. All in all, in a whirlwind first 3 months of dating we met friends, family, and classmates across 4 different states, each time feeling as natural as if we’d known each other our entire lives.

Taylor Swift’s “invisible string” became special to us somewhere along the way. The idea that, long before you know where you’re headed, all these little coincidences and choices are quietly leading you toward someone.

And isn't it just so pretty to think

All along there was some

Invisible string

Tying you to me?