Welcome to Camp Monroe!

Hey there, it's Margaret. If I am being honest, I don’t really know how to tell our story. As the respective writer of this relationship, it does not feel adequate to only give you a few paragraphs. I would write a novel about us if I could. It has been a beautiful year of unexpected joy, but I only get 2000 characters to tell you that. So here goes... Joey and I have known each other since our freshman year at UA. We met in our campus ministry, Chi Alpha, and most of our brief conversations up to our junior year consisted of the fact that we both had red converse. Enter Fall Retreat 2019. I somehow ended up in his car on a late-night trip to Waffle House with friends. And then everyone in that car started to hang out a lot over the next few months. As much as I tried keep it cool and just be his friend, I started crushing hard. Conveniently, Joey also did the same. Over Christmas break, it became evident that we really enjoyed each other’s company as we started talking on the phone until 2 in the morning. When we finally reunited in-person at Chi Alpha’s annual SALT conference, I decided to take the super subtle and noninvasive approach of asking him what was going on between us in a crowded hallway full of students and vendors. Brilliant, I know. I also did this about 5 minutes before worship began in case he said he wanted to be “just friends” so I could go cry with Jesus in the back of the room afterwards. (I really really liked him if that wasn't already obvious.) But plot twist: That's not what he said. He actually told me the direct opposite. So January 4, 2020, our story began.

When our one year anniversary rolled around, Joey's car was in the shop, we were finally home after the Christmas Break Road Trip of the century, and I thought I had a few more weeks until he proposed. I picked him up that morning from the mechanic and he "confirmed" my suspicion: he asked if we could go on a hike to celebrate one year and apologized for not having anything else planned. Naturally I totally understood and agreed to a hike at Lake Nicol. I packed a lunch, he picked me up, and we basically had the trail to ourselves. The end of the trail juts into the lake as a rocky peninsula. When we got to that point, I sat down and started to unpack the picnic I created. (I was starving.) Joey invited me to come stand on the peninsula with him. Confused and a little hangry, I joined him to look at the view. He then proceeded to hold my shoulders and said what he and I recall to be the sweetest things ever. But in full candor, I don't remember what he said and neither does he. Suddenly there was the most beautiful ring on my finger and our dear friend Anna emerging from the bushes with a camera and an affirming "Yes he did say, 'Margaret Anne Bullington, will you marry me?' and you said, 'Yes!'" Afterwards, there were tears of joy as he took me to see our families at a coffee shop and then the best engagement party later complete with tacos and s'mores. The day was a whirlwind and as I sat on the floor of Joey's living room after it all died down - finally eating the picnic I packed - I was simply amazed at how loved the two of us were. How kind our friends and family were to celebrate us with such generosity. How precious of Jesus to care about us with such extravagant compassion. Psalm 27:13 has echoed in my heart throughout these past few weeks: Surely, we have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. The moments leading up to January 4, 2021 have been marked by Jesus' mercy. I cannot wait to marry my best friend.

Since this season has been so full of JOY and FUN, and because we are getting married at Camp Creek, we've decided to nickname this wedding Camp Monroe. It will be such an adventure that we hope you can take with us. Joey and I will both graduate on May 1st. He will then spend the summer building a team of supporters for his upcoming year as a Campus Missionary in training through Chi Alpha. I will be attending graduate school beginning in August working towards getting my Master's and license in Marriage and Family Therapy. We will camp out (haha get it?) in Tuscaloosa for the next two years and see where Jesus leads us after that!