On September 2nd, 2012 a crazy dog named Miley escaped from her family and started a chain of events that has resulted in a love story that no one saw coming. Shane was walking his dog, Artemis, and was able to capture Miley. Tracy and Shane realized they had known each other from being in the same Sunday School class 12 years earlier. That brief introduction didn't lead to a whirlwhind romance, however. Tracy and Shane began to become  reacquainted slowly 7 weeks later before Shane finally asked Tracy out for coffee and she promptly shut him down. Tracy explained that she had made a pledge to not date for an entire year after her divorce, but instead of giving up Shane was even more impressed. They agreed to begin a friendship and from October 21st, 2012 they have talked or seen each other every day since then except for 6 days when they both went on a spiritual retreat called Tres Dias separately. Shane asked if he could be Tracy's first official date and they celebrated by going out on January 18th and January 19th. 

Tracy and Shane's friendship began to blossom and so did the romance. They both were a little scared and made sure they went slow. They made a pledge to be F3s. Friends First and Foremost, but they also realized they wanted more so they made another pledge to read a devotional together everyday and ask God to help them be more Fearless both individually and as a couple. It was becoming obvious that this friendship was turning into something very special and when they both took separate vacations that summer of 2013 they realized that they wanted to see where God was leading them. 

Early on Tracy began to share her love of running while Shane shared his disdain for running, but it's funny what a man will do when he begins to fall in love. Shane started running again with Tracy's encouragement and ran his first 5k in January of 2013 and they celebrated his birthday in February by running  a 10k for the first time since his days at Syracuse University way back in 1988. The next thing Shane knew Tracy had talked him into running the Country Music Half Marathon. It was a cold, miserable, wet day in April, but Shane loved it. Tracy had infected him with the bug of running. They agreed to train for the St. Jude's Marathon that December, but to their great disappointment it was cancelled due to a snow storm. Tracy and Shane decided all of that training wouldn't go to waste though so in February 2014 the two best friends ran their first full marathon together in the Big Easy, New Orleans. Running had become part of their story for sure and it would only get better...

Shane and Tracy came up with another goal for their relationship. IF and it was still a pretty big IF they ever got married they decided they wanted to run in all 50 states. So, they began to run in several states close to Tennessee. In May of 2014 they decided to run another half marathon. This time it was in Indiana, but they agreed to run at their own pace. Shane had a plan that Tracy had no idea about. He had arranged with the race organizers to have champagne, balloons, and a photographer to be at the finish line. When Tracy came up the hill and finished Shane was there and the race announcer said, "Tracy, Shane has something ta ask you!" Tracy was already out of breath after running 13.1 miles, but had her breath really taken away when Shane dropped to one knee and asked her to run the Marathon of life with him. It was an incredible day. 

Tracy and Shane both love their kids very much and they wanted to make sure all four of the kids had time to adjust to the engagement. Sam was about to start college, Grace and Jacksen were both going to be freshman in high school, and Rachyl Ann was still adjusting to middle school. So, Tracy and Shane decided to have a long engagement so all of the family could bond even further without just rushing into a marriage. But the time has finally come and on November 7th, 2015 Tracy and Shane will become husband and wife. It's been an incredible 3 years and they definitely feel like God has brought them together. They are so excited to begin the next few miles of the Race together, but they know it's a Marathon.