MET FEBRUARY 17, 2023 Caleb and I first laid eyes on each other at a young adults event called Round Table at Caleb’s church, McLean Presbyterian. I was attending with my friends Makenzie and Alex (who actually met at the same event in 2021!) and noticed a really cute guy at the table next to me. At the end of the event, Caleb walked over to meet the cute girl he had noticed at the table next to him (spoiler alert: it was me) and our mutual friend Jesse (shoutout!) made the introduction. The first thing Jesse said to me was “This is Caleb - he’s a surgeon and he stitched up my head one time! Look, you can’t even see the scar!” Caleb humbly laughed off the compliment, but needless to say, I was pretty impressed. We chatted for a few minutes and then both decided to head to a local brewery with some other people who were attending the event. Much to my dismay, Caleb was busy talking to other people at the brewery and we didn’t get a chance to talk again that night. I tried to find him on social media with no success and resolved to attend Round Table again with hopes that he would be there. I was beyond excited to get an Instagram follow request AND a direct message from him the next day, not knowing that he had spent hours looking at the websites for different elementary schools in Loudoun County trying to find a music teacher named Grace (so cute, I know). I quickly gave him my number, and the rest is history. FIRST DATE FEBRUARY 22, 2023 Caleb planned a great first date at a restaurant-winery called Cooper’s Hawk. He made a reservation, arrived early, prayed over our food and our time together, paid for the meal, asked great questions, walked me to my car at the end of the evening, and was just overall a total gentleman. Things were off to a great start :) GROWING TOGETHER Over the next 8 months, we enjoyed more time together, spent time with each other’s friends and family, attended each other’s churches and small groups, had deep conversations about life and faith, discussed God’s beautiful design for marriage, ate a lot of good food, went on some enjoyable and some not quite so enjoyable hikes, left a show at intermission because it was so bad (ask us about that experience - it’s a funny story), learned how to work through conflict and disagreements, supported each other through some really tough situations (most notably my hospitalization and recovery, and Caleb finishing residency and taking his boards), and grew more and more confident that God had brought us together for the purpose of marriage. We like to say that we got a head start on the "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health" part of our vows. ENGAGED OCTOBER 22, 2023 Exactly 8 months after our first date, Caleb planned an early morning hike off Skyline Drive in Shenandoah and proposed at the top of the mountain. Then he threw a surprise engagement party at Cooper’s Hawk (where we had our first date) with some of our favorite people. Organizing a big party was very much out of Caleb’s comfort zone, but he knew that I would love to celebrate with our family and friends, which made the whole day even more special. PREPARING FOR MARRIAGE The countdown has officially begun and we are SO excited to be officially joining our lives together so soon! We'd love and appreciate your prayers over us in this season of being "not yet married," that we would seek to honor the Lord and each other in everything we do, that we would recognize our own selfishness and continue to learn to put the interests of the other before those of ourselves, that we would not allow the stress of planning and excitement for the wedding itself to take up too much of our mental and emotional energy, and that we would allow the Lord to direct and guide us every step of the way as we enter into this sacred covenant before Him. We are so excited to celebrate with you all!