A big part of our story (which is so, so special to me) is that Kaleb and I really got to be friends during his conversion to Catholicism. We studied together on a pretty regular basis our senior year of high school (he said he “needed help” with calculus!), but things went deeper once he started asking questions about why I was Catholic and what I believed. It wasn’t too long until he met with one of our priests and started coming to Mass with my family! Fast forward to the summer after we graduated: we started dating and Kaleb decided to try out RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). In the following months, we started college, ran our first half marathon, and Kaleb became Catholic! That Easter Vigil was a HUGE day. He was baptized, confirmed, and received his first Communion. It was also the first time I realized I wanted to marry him. After watching him receive three Sacraments, I thought that there would be few things more incredible than getting to enter into the Sacrament of Marriage with him one day! I told him this after Mass, and from then on there wasn’t too much of a question. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs and have been through a lot together! But I am absolutely ecstatic to be preparing for marriage with my best friend and the one that I can’t imagine doing life without <3

Isabelle and I started dating on June 15th, 2020. It has now been 3.5 YEARS, and so much has happened on this journey together. Since then, I met her family, which I have come to know and love as my own. We lived through the COVID-19 pandemic together and went on countless outdoor dates. I was baptized, confirmed, and received my first communion! We dated long distance after both of us moved on to college. We ran TWO half marathons together. We went on a FOCUS mission trip to Tanzania, made a pilgrimage to Montreal with the UofL Catholic Campus Ministry, and participated in the March for Life in D.C. And we have gone through so many other life-changing experiences that have brought us closer! Finally, I proposed to Isabelle on September 2nd, 2023. In summary, over the last 3.5 years, we have grown in authentic friendship and love for one another. We’ve pushed each other to grow in virtue, and most importantly, we found that we want nothing more than to get each other to Heaven. Finally, this dream is becoming a reality, and we are getting married on August 10th! I can’t wait to take this next step toward our vocation and join our lives together in the sacrament of matrimony!