We are getting married!

It all started with Claire throwing a snowball at me early in the winter term of our freshman year. Claire had been on my radar, but I had never really had an interaction with her before. As time went on I began to notice her more and more, and through Antioch-Charis game nights I was able to get some time hanging out with her. It was at one of these game nights where Claire's roommates first noticed I had taken an interest in her. Towards the end of the term I was pretty much sold on Claire, but it wasn't until after we took a spring break trip with the Johnsons to Gleneden, that I was all in for her. After that trip we began texting frequently, and when we got back from spring break we started playing basketball together, once a week turned into twice a week and twice a week turned into seeing each other pretty much every day, with lots of mutual flirting. To me these were dates, to Claire we were just friends. So, finally in late May I got the courage to ask her out on an official date over a bag of ice, she replied with “I’ll think about it”. But it wasn't long before she texted me yes and a date was set for June 4th. When I picked her up on June 4th and we got to Fitton green, Claire wasted no time asking, “Colby, is this a date?”, where I smoothly(nervously) replied with, “Do you want it to be?”. Claire eagerly replied “I’d like it to be!”. So that was our first date. But summer came and separated us before anything could be solidified, so we texted a little bit here and there, and I went on a week long trip with no cell service. When I got back I was stoked to get a text from Claire telling me she missed me while I was gone. That text reignited the flame and we began to call after work, and pretty soon a date was scheduled, the Saint Paul Rodeo on July 4th. This marks the official start time of our dating relationship. From that point everything was awesome, the commute to Tualatin couldn't have been any longer, and man was I excited to be back at Antioch with my girlfriend right next door. From there our relationship continued to grow as we grew closer together and our relationship with the Lord grew stronger. Dating Claire was amazing, by the end of that year I was telling some of my friends I was pretty sure I would marry her. The next two years would be nothing short of a blessing from God, as we learned so much from each other and matured together, it was evident that we would be together forever. So in November of 2023 I bought a ring without a doubt in my mind. On December 16th I asked her to marry me and she obviously said yes, bringing us to where we are now, preparing to celebrate the first step of forever with our closest family and friends!