We're getting married!

Emiola was the featured speaker for a Young Adult event at a local church in Pittsburgh. Danielle, invited by a friend, attended and got to hear his words. With a missionary background herself, Danielle was intrigued and went to speak with him and another minister afterwards. During the fellowship time, Danielle went to speak with Emiola, share her POV, and buy his book. That quickly led to them exchanging stories and discussing ministry abroad. After a long conversation, Danielle purchased his book and got in her car. As she pulled off, she called her cousin Jasmine and told her about "this guy" she just met and how incredible the conversation was that night. Her cousin encouraged her to go back inside and say something to him. So, she pulled a U-turn, got out and went back into the Church! However, she chickened out and went to the bathroom. **tisk tisk* Unbeknownst to her, Emiola, tired from the event, selling books, and dodging a few previous advances (ya'll know what I'm talkin about, lol), was packing up getting ready to leave when he saw one of his books left over. Assuming someone forgot it, he picked it up and headed out, coincidentally bumping into Danielle as she was leaving the bathroom. Here comes God's providence ya'll. Believing that Danielle was the one who forgot her book since she was the only one who came back, Emiola, in good faith, gave it back to her. She accepted (stole!) the book and left. **sneaky sneaky** On her way home, Danielle stopped at her parents house and told them about the unbelievable conversation she just had and how she believed she found the guy she was going to marry! Feeling a prompting from God, the next day, Danielle messaged Emiola on facebook, mentioning that she "accidentally" had two books and wanted to give one back to him. What better way to do so than in person! She gave him her number, they scheduled a time to meet, ate some Caribbean food, "returned a book", began a good friendship, and the rest is history...

With a handmade diamond ring from Israel in his pocket, seen and blessed by his late mother (God's providence again), Emiola and a large village of family/friends planned the proposal. He picked Danielle up on valentines day, flowers in hand, for a normal romantic date. Unbeknownst to her, she was in for a wild ride! The couple went to Phipps Conservatory (their favorite spot to visit) to see plants from around the world. When they got to one of their favorite rooms (a garden), a "package" was delivered to them from a masked individual (Emiola's bestman - Jeremiah). Both surprised, Emiola slowly opened it and showed it to her. **Drum roll** It was a handmade large painting of the a picture of the couple at Phipps during on of their first dates (S/o Natiq!) with the words, "Will you marry me?" on it. Struck with silence, Danielle said nothing, and then "I think I'm going to be sick!" Every mans dream lol. Emiola sat her down, got on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked again. Once she said yes (phew!) and they hugged, Emiola pointed to the "the delivery man" in the bushes and a hidden photographer. Once they got back into the car, Emiola blindfolded Danielle and drove her to an unknown location. Once they arrived, walked in, and sat down, to her surprise, they were in a private theater which was lined with balloons (S/o Toks!). The lights dimmed and a video started to play with pictures of the couple throughout the years. As it played, both of their close families walked into the theater and surprised Danielle! With both laughter and tears, they all watched a 30 min video of Danielle and Emiola's family, friends, coworkers, etc. congratulating them on their engagement who couldn't be there! (S/o Tre and Alicia!) Once the video ended, the families gave speeches, took pictures, and had refreshments. Afterward, the couple finally went to dinner, enjoyed each other, and looked at a photo book Emiola created of their relationship. The rest is history...