Travis & Katelyn were married in June at the Swiss Heritage Village

The Reception was held at West Missionary Church

Hair and Make up: Elegance On Main

Cakes by Janice Waugh

Travis & Katelyn have written their love story... You can read their words while you view their beautiful wedding photos...

It was the fall of 2012, a year and a half before I (Travis) was to graduate from Pensacola. I was an usher at PCC(Pensacola Christian College), and I had just gotten out of relationship, when one of my dear friends who sat with me all the time at church had asked me if she could have a friend sit with us. Well I told her yes but just one. The first time I laid eyes on her friend (Kate) I just remember smiling, and to be honest I don't remember much of the service. I just remember whispering most of the time, I liked her, yes, but I just wasn't ready for a relationship. I just needed a good friend and she instantly became that to me. Before you knew it we were doing everything together and to us we were great friends and not "talking" or dating, simply great friends! This continued for the rest of the semester and into February of the next semester. But as word goes around in small schools, people started talking and assuming that there was something going on. I got scared and well to say it short I walked away and we ended up not talking for the rest of the semester and all of the summer almost 9 months went by and I hadn't said a word to her. I felt terrible because I really did like her and my buddies knew that. Time came around and it was my last semester, I was getting ready to graduate in December of 2013. I beat myself up time and time again and I would just sit in my dorm room and talk with my buddy Brandon. I always wondered what would have happened if I had kept talking to "Her" and not just walked away. I couldn't figure it out... Brandon kept saying why don't you just talk to her? I didn't know what to say, but he encouraged me to just slowly start talking to her again. Ironically (or maybe not irony) I started seeing her between classes and I would just say hey or try to make short conversations. I knew I had hurt her and that hurt me knowing that. She could see that I was hurting and she knew I just needed a friend. After weeks of just small chat here and there, I then began to bring her coffee and we would go on small walks and just talk! I was beginning to fall in love and she didn't know but she really gave more to me than I deserved. I needed a friend and she was there! The time came, the last night of the semester. It was the Christmas program and I asked her to sit with me. The next day was the last time I would see her...

    
The next day after the chapel that dismissed everyone for the semester, everyone was saying goodbye. I found my Kate and I gave her a hug for the "last time" so I thought... I went and grabbed all my stuff and got it all ready to go, I was sitting in the SUV with my dad and Brandon and his dad, we were waiting on my brother. I just remember saying to Brandon I'm never gonna see her again. Then I told my dad don't leave yet. I ran over to Kate's dorm, I texted her and said, "I need to hug you one more time!!"
 

It was at that moment, right then, in the car I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and that she was my best friend, and the love of my life; although I could not tell her at that time. I joked around and said, "I wish we could see each other again," and I think she was joking but she said, "Yeah, you should come visit me sometime..." Low and behold after Christmas I found myself buying a plain ticket to go see this girl. To fly up to Indiana and meet her family, she thought I was crazy for flying from Dallas, TX, and maybe I was. I knew I wanted her! Her family couldn't figure out why I would come all that way even when "we didn't like each other." It was the middle of a winter storm and it took me a few days to get up there because of the storm, but when I landed there in Indianapolis Kate and her friend Jamie had driven 6 hours through the snow to come pick me up. We were crazy, it should have only taken 2 hours! We drove those next 6 hours back through the snow as just friends! On this trip I asked her dad if I could date her and we just talked. I knew she was not ready at that time and had to put all this together so I asked her dad anyways and told him I knew she wasn't ready but that I would wait until she was, and I just wanted his permission to date her.

  
So I had already graduated and I was going to go home and work at the place I was working throughout college. I had made prior commitments for later that summer and when I told the company about the commitment I was let go and a long story short I wasn't able to work until June when I went to work at the Bill Rice Ranch. We had both signed up earlier that year without even knowing each other signed up to work...coincidence (God's Hand).
But through this time she still was at school finishing her last semester of her teaching internship at Pensacola Christian Academy. When my brother and Brandon had to go back to school in January, I drove down with them; I just needed to see her again. All this time we kept talking, our friendship was growing stronger and our attraction to one another was also slowly growing. I still knew she wasn't ready for a relationship, so I planned another trip... this one she didn't know about.

Every night we would call and talk on the phone. The night was February 13th, as soon as we had said goodnight I hopped in the rental car I had gotten. I then drove all night from Dallas to Pensacola! I got in super early that morning and I waited outside her dorm until she would be coming out to go to breakfast! She had no idea I was there! It was great, her face was priceless and it hit me once again, I love this Girl! When she finished teaching that afternoon at PCA I met her there in the parking lot and I asked her to be my girlfriend! Neither one of us knowing we would later be married! To me, I couldn't have been happier! I was wrong, there has been so many great days since! God truly had blessed us!
 

I won't be as long winded with the rest of the story, but I will hit a lot of the main points! This first section was my favorite and I couldn't be happier looking back and sharing all of this with her being the love of my life!

Going on later that semester I was able to go back down 1-2 more times as her boyfriend and just spend time with her! This whole time I kept looking for a job but remained honest with each place I applied that I would be working at a ministry summer camp all summer and could only work up until June; through all of that I was kindly turned away by every place I had either applied to or had an interview with.

I knew God had a reason through all of that. It was hard, but I knew God had called me to ministry that summer at the Bill Rice Ranch. It was a huge opportunity by God that I could go and serve others! While at the ranch I kept praying that God would give us direction and a clear path on where to go with our relationship. I knew that she had gotten a job offer and had accepted it to work the next school year up in Northern VA! I kept praying "Lord, if it's Your will for Katelyn and I to be together, please provide me with a job up there!"

Literally I prayed this for about 2 weeks and without calling or talking to anyone, one of my buddies came up to me and told me that his brother is looking for help and would be willing to talk to people on the phone and have a little interview. I talked with him and having little prior renovating skills I was able to get offered a job working with him. I later came to find out that his brother lived just 1.5-2 hours away from where Kate would be teaching. I knew it was only by God that all this happened! I then began to pray again, "Lord, if it's Your will for us to be together then please show me a place to live or stay at. That very next weekend I got a phone call from a buddy of mine from college and he said, "I heard you're going to be working up here in Maryland," shocked because I hadn't told him. I was confused, he then offered for me to stay with him until I could find a place to stay if it helped me out that he and his brothers were cool with it.
I then began to realize God really did have His hand in our relationship!

We finished serving the rest of the summer there at the Bill Rice Ranch summer camp and then went on to start our next chapter of life in Northern Va/Maryland. After working up there a month or so I realized this job was good enough for now but would no way be enough to provide for Kate and eventually a family. Kate definitely was what kept me going. We prayed and prayed that God would provide a better job; I soon was offered another job that provided a little better. Although it was still not a skill set job I was able to make a little more. I still knew if it was Gods will for us to be together that He would provide me with a stronger income and a more skill set oriented job. I kept praying, "Lord, give us guidance and direction." He did just that, and I was offered a job as a surveyor with a major construction company (without any prior experience in this field, wow!) He has surely showed his provision in our lives not just monetarily but in giving both Kate and I exactly what we need in each other.

     

After I was given permission from her father to marry her, we wanted to get married right away. We both knew we loved each other and was ready for the next chapter to start. So we had a very short engagement that was about a month and a half long. The Lord truly has blessed us and it's incredible watching Him open door after door! Though we are not sure what the next chapter of life holds for us, we can not wait to see where the Lord leads! It is our desire to serve Him wherever that may be. We both love working with children and we are open to serving Him on the mission field wherever and whenever He leads us. THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!