In 2019, James and Traci met the 21st Century way… on the internet. He messaged her first by complimenting the shirt she was wearing in her profile picture and she thought he was super cute in his pictures. They started chatting and instantly hit it off. He was charming and sincere and she was fun and adorable. He was living in Longview at the time, so it took some time to schedule a date. So after a while of chatting on the app that upgraded to texting, they eventually planned for James to make the trek to Texarkana to see Traci.
How it all began…
Boy was he surprised. The route into Texarkana from Longview can be a sketchy one and he was thinking to himself “Who is this girl and what am I getting myself into?!”. But we are all glad he stuck with it. They planned to meet at Hopkins Icehouse in downtown Texarkana on a Sunday for lunch. He showed up in what Traci still affectionately refers to as his “shorty shorts” that look way too close to his skin tone. She had to do a double take to make sure he was actually wearing pants! After that amazing first impression, they chatted over pizza and beers for what seemed like 5 minutes but ended up being several hours. Worth the drive and worth the wait!
They did long distance for quite some time. Texting and talking non-stop and meeting when they could. They had many dates walking around James’s apartment in Longview or James beating her in every board game at the house in Texarkana. But guys, let me tell you… long distance is hard. Life got in the way and they drifted apart. 🙁 James likes to say that Traci dumped him and she says he ghosted her. Who knows? A few months went by and they were strangers again… Sad times.
Till out of the blue, a song came on that reminded Traci of James and she messaged him just to check in. Of course they started chatting about music and catching up. It was like no time had passed at all! James said that one of their favorite bands was going to be playing in Dallas that next weekend and he spontaneously asked Traci to go. Now she had to think about spending a whole weekend with the guy that ghosted her but her friends encouraged her. WHY NOT!
Traci met James in Longview so they could ride to Dallas together. They went to the Fort Worth Arboretum to see the plants and flowers and walked around for hours. Traci made him go to the butterfly exhibit, which he reluctantly enjoyed. They laughed and talked and listened to music and discussed all their interests and were having so much fun that they decided not to even go to the concert. (Plus ya know COVID was just beginning and we were a little scared too).
It was on the ride home that they decided to be together. They each thought to themselves this is who I want to be with,
And that was it.
this is my person.
James moved to Texarkana almost a year later after quarantining at each other’s houses as much as possible.
James and Traci took a trip to Portland, Oregon to visit her brother and sister-in-law, Kyle and Sam. It was there that James surprised Traci (and Kyle… lol) and asked her to marry him at the beautiful La Tourelle Falls on September 14, 2022. What an amazing surprise that they will cherish forever! They were so happy and thankful that could share this time and celebrate with their family. <3
They have since made a home together, grown together, rescued their wonderful little cat, Georgie together, and now going to make a life
together.
Thank you to Tiffany (Three Moons Photography) for taking all our beautiful photos!