In the summer of 2012, two freshmen moved to Walla Walla University to begin undergraduate degrees in Theology. They took classes together, hung out in the same circles, worked together as Dorm Chaplains, and even preached a few joint-sermons together. But there was never romantic interest between them, just the wonderful foundation of friendship. They stayed good friends after graduation, and years later, in the summer of 2018, they both found themselves at Andrews University beginning the same masters degree. They enjoyed game nights, vespers, and brunches at each other's houses with their mutual friends. And after a few long conversations- the kind that last until 4am- they realized there was no longer just a deep friendship, but shared life-long interests and values, and mutual romantic interest as well! After a pure Michigan style polar vortex in 2019 that "forced" them to spend a significant amount of time together, mutual romantic interest was expressed, and then Valentine's Day came. Natalie woke up to the tasty smells of breakfast cooking in her kitchen, and came downstairs to find her housemates- (thanks Lauren & Kisa hehe)- had secretly let Eddy in to surprise her! Throughout the day he romanced her with sweet notes handwritten on parchment paper, beautiful roses, and surprise gifts and clues delivered by their closest friends. The elaborate, day-long scavenger hunt ended in a date night with another home cooked meal made from scratch by Chef Eddy. That date definitely kicked off their relationship! And after a few months of playing hard to get, and a few climbing trips under their belts, Natalie "accidentally" asked Eddy to be her boyfriend- and the rest is history! So here they are, 3 years later, ready to celebrate the best day of their lives with you, and the beginning of a great life long love!

We've road tripped across the US twice, rock climbed countless cliffs together from the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to Yosemite in California, had many fun game nights and musical jam sessions hanging with our closest friends and family, watched lots of This Is Us, and loved living life to the fullest! We are adventurers, and now that Eddy finally has Permanent Residency in the US, (which was a long journey of patience), we can't wait to start traveling the world together! On August 2 this past summer, we found ourselves in the middle of the Olympic Mountains on a beautiful backpacking trip headed up the Hoh River Trail to Blue Glacier at the base of glorious Mt. Olympus with our wonderful friends Oddie & Maddy. When we woke up that morning, neither of us knew we’d be getting engaged that day! Surprise! Read each of our stories below to see what happened!

Prior to the trip, I had organized with my good friend Oddie how to best execute this proposal plan. I had done some research about the Hoh River Trail we were hiking and discovered this magnificent bridge. Based on the pictures, the bridge was the perfect spot- towering high above the beautiful Hoh River, between two cliffs. Based on my calculations, we were supposed to cross this bridge on our 3rd day of hiking. The Plan: once we arrived at the bridge we would take off our packs for a snack and take in the view. Oddie would then casually get out his camera and start taking pictures of the scenery, and then of his wife, then ask Natalie if she wanted some pictures- which was a natural thing to do at a scenic bridge. This would buy me enough time to get the ring out of Oddie’s backpack and into my pocket. I also brought a bluetooth speaker that Maddy would use to play the song I first played for Natalie when I first said “I love you”. Come to find out, we arrived at the bridge on the 2nd day, not the third like I had originally thought! Oddie and I took off our backpacks and walked onto the bridge to explore and figure out whether or not this was THE bridge. After careful investigation, which we disguised by “taking in the view”, we decided that this was indeed THE bridge. I looked at Oddie and I said, “Well, I guess I’m proposing today!” So we initiated the Proposal Plan. I grabbed the ring, Maddy was stationed and ready with the bluetooth speaker, and I walked over to Natalie, who was in the middle of her “photoshoot” on the bridge. I stepped into the frame to get some shots taken with her. As Maddy began playing Our Song, I took Natalie’s hands, faced her towards the camera, and launched into the speech I never bothered to memorize because I knew I wouldn't remember it anyways. Then I got down on one knee, with the ring out, and asked the question. Between the tears and ugly crying, I think she said yes! But I’m not 100% sure ;) The End

I was blissfully unaware on the day of the proposal. I thought Eddy might propose at some point on our backpacking trip, but I assumed it would be at the top, by the Blue Glacier- the most obvious spot, right? I should have known, Eddy is too good at predicting my predictions! So of course he’d pick a less obvious spot! We had a funny joke going about whether or not he could surprise me with our proposal and catch me completely by surprise- he definitely did! The one thing we had talked about was to not get engaged over water, in case you dropped the ring. Of course Eddy had made lots of jokes about never getting engaged over water on purpose to throw me off the scent. When we got to the bridge, I had no idea what was coming. I was sweaty and tired from just hiking 2 miles upward with our heavy backpacks, so I happily plopped right down in the dirt by the trail and began snacking on my granola bars and dried mangoes. Oddie asked if I wanted some photos like Maddy, so I bounced over to the bridge, dried mango still stuck in my teeth. He told me to start walking across the bridge, facing away from the camera. It was at that moment I suddenly wondered for the first time if I would turn around to see Eddy down on one knee. But as I slowly turned, he was still standing at the end of the bridge. So I relaxed, and walked back thinking, "Well, I guess today's not the day." But then I noticed something strange... Eddy's hand was in his pocket, and it looked a bit larger than normal. Eddy doesn't usually just chill with his hands in his pockets, so I started to suspect that maybe something was up after all! Oddie then asked if we wanted some couple photos together, and of course we agreed. So Eddy walked towards me and asked how I wanted to pose, hand still in pocket. That's when I knew, and the tears began! He took my hands, turned me, and began his sweet proposal. Then there he was, on bended knee, with a beautiful ring, asking me to marry him! I said yes!!!!!