June 9th, 2021… I opened up my phone after I got home from church to a message from this real cute guy I liked on a dating app. I was immediately so excited and after texting for a few days we went on a coffee date. I was super nervous, but left that date with so much excitement for what the future could hold with Adam. After getting to know Adam more and seeing all the ways our lives were intertwined before we knew each other just confirmed God’s plan that we would’ve met at some point no matter what. We made it official 2 months later and started into a super fun chapter of our lives filled with lots of good food, relaxing walks, and fun times with family. Falling in love with Adam was so easy because he is one of the most kind, protective, and generous people I know. After the best 2 years, I didn’t know how life with Adam could get any better until one night last September when he asked me to marry him. Remember how I said our lives were intertwined? Well back in 2015, Adam and I attended the same Ben Rector concert. We were watching a video I had taken from this concert and he noticed one of his friends in the row in front of me, and after scrubbing second by second through the video we found Adam in the video on my phone. The song Ben Rector was singing during this video was White Dress, a song about getting married, and the part he was singing was “I never knew that I could love someone the way that I love you.” Adam painted that on a sign that he proposed to me in front of, and I can’t think of a better way to sum up our relationship than those lyrics.

We've been asked several times, "So, how did you all meet?", and we always jokingly answer that it doesn't seem right to say we met on a dating app... but we did. I remember seeing Lauren's stunning, sweet, and contagious smile on the app and it was an immediate yes for me. Obviously. Our first date was at Manchester Coffee Co. We had some coffee, talked for a while, and then I had to get ready to leave for camp for a week. I knew we said we would meet up again after camp, but it was pretty much all I could think or talk about in my downtime with friends that week. On the dates to come after that coffee date, we ate, we talked, and we played some games, but most importantly we went to Pho Bc. I remembered Lauren saying how much she loved this place and being a foodie it was worth a try for me. (I can now confidently say it is one of our favorites). It wasn't until much further down the road in our relationship that she told me that was the date that she decided she liked me. We've always taken things fairly slow in our relationship, but I remember sharing with several friends around this time just how incredible Lauren was. Over the next 2 years pretty much every day reminded me of that truth. I learned so much from Lauren in those 2 years of dating. I learned about her passion for leading a group of girls at Southland that she has known for 10+ years. I learned how she loves to make playlists of songs based on books she has read. I mean is that not the cutest thing? I learned how deeply Lauren loves and cares for her friends and family. I learned that Lauren might not seem like a competitive person, but if you put a card or board game in front of her a different side comes out. Most of all, I learned how I did not want to picture my life without Lauren. So, on September 13th I decided to talk to Lauren’s parents and ask for their blessing on Lauren and I’s marriage. A ton of planning went into the next 5 days on my part. All I wanted was for everything to go perfectly, but honestly, the main thing I remember from that night was that Lauren said, “Yes!” After the proposal we celebrated with family and friends, and now a little over a year later we get to take another big step together and celebrate with family and friends on a bit of a larger scale. I am so thankful that God has brought our lives together, and I am excited to see the story that He has for us to come!