For any book lovers out there, we've got the quintessential friends-to-lovers trope in our whirlwind rom-com story that'll keep you hooked to the end. We might have our own versions of things, but one thing we can agree on - it's all the work of the Lord that brought us together to craft our story for His glory. It started at a Super Bowl party in Feb 2022. Dan attended a group hang at Tyler & Rachel Ester's house (Richfield Bible Church friends) and caught the eye of a certain young lady. Little did this gal know that the Esters had been wanting to bring these two together since they first saw him at RBC! And little did he know that stepping into their home was just the beginning of many more gatherings, parties, and any excuse to bring friends together - thus began the sneaky work of the Esters to avail every opportunity to build a friendship between Alissa & Dan. They say you create a unique bond when you've been in the trenches with someone. We proved them true when our larger hangouts turned into a small group camping trip to the Apostle Islands in Sep 2022. Eight of us set out to have a weekend to remember and boy, oh boy, it was one we won't soon forget! Much of our adventure was trying to cook food over an open fire with damp wood and drizzly weather. But with just the right people, endless card games, spontaneous dance parties, and deep conversations - not even sleeping in a puddle can dampen the start of a great friendship. Over the next few months, bringing friends together (by ANY excuse) became more frequent - game nights, dinner parties, movie nights, and even a Butter Chicken Cook-off! We got a group together to ring in the new year of 2023 at a cabin in the woods with snowy walks, more card games, and a beautiful worship night. I know you must be thinking...ok, ok, this sounds like all fun and games (yes, SO many board games, card games, you name it) but when do we get to the GOOD STUFF? Well, that was my question about this time in our friendship :) I was *really* enjoying getting to know this new guy in my life and I couldn't believe that we had so many similarities - how we grew up, various interests, and lifestyle/future dreams. So why was this guy that would come over for a game night and stay until 2 a.m. just chatting at the dining room table not DOING anything? We'll just chalk it up to character development in our rom-com love story ;) The Esters were still faithfully orchestrating opportunities to bring us together - so convenient that the same day that Tyler needed help building a murphy bed, Rachel needed help "nesting" and organizing closets throughout their home before baby Sofia came! There was also a full army of prayer warriors that were covering us in prayer throughout this whole time...and for many years before we stepped into each other's life. But in any great romance novel, it takes T I M E. And that time is what makes the climax that much sweeter when the guy *finally* gets the girl! There's must be something about springtime that makes you feel in the mood to fall in love. I ventured out to the Peterson's Memorial Day festivities with a couple of friends to burn our Christmas trees in a very epic bonfire. This is the part of the book when you're HOOKED because we could all tell *something* was up. We played Kubb, we ate brats, we set the trees on fire, we gathered around the fire late into the night - and nothing. After a really fun and full day, we had to make the hour trek back home. Dan and Sarah walked us out to our cars and said their farewells. Popped on my driving glasses, got the gps all set, and caught some long legs in my headlights coming back to my car! He said he had a question to ask me... The following Saturday we had our first date at the Stone Arch Bridge. We walked around the Mill City farmer's market and sat on a bench just talking and enjoying each other's company for eight straight hours. The best part? That's just the beginning of our story.