We're getting married!

Our mutual friend, Kiersten had been trying to set the two of us up for over a year. In 2022, we almost met when Kiersten invited Rex on our snowboarding trip. Last minute, it became a girl’s trip so we didn’t meet. A year later I was sitting in my living room with Kiersten venting to her about dating. She looked at me and said "That's it, I'm giving Rex the green light to reach out." Rex reached out that same night--even saying "hi" twice in the same sentence. Rex took me to culinary dropout in Tempe for our first date in February 2023 and we instantly got along. Conversation was easy and I got to see the first glimpse at his competitive side when we played ping pong (let it be known that I won though). With every date and text message, Rex was always intentional. He was everything that I had prayed for so long about. He was honest with his feelings and pursued my heart carefully. On the third date is when I realized that Rex was someone who was going to play a major part in my life. He took me to his church (Generation Church in Mesa, AZ). Worshiping God together and having other people speak to the man that Rex is was confirmation that God was writing a story for the two of us. The next few months we began to spend more and more time together. We got to know each other's families and friends and began to travel together. On April 15, 2023, Rex planned a picnic date on the top of South Mountain so we could watch the sunset together. Once we got to the top, the parking lot was full so he found an abandoned road that led to an old lookout. We had the entire area to ourselves as we watched the sun go down and enjoyed a steak dinner that we prepared together. After dinner, Rex set up his speaker and took me up to the lookout platform. He played "Prayed for You" by Matt Stell which is a song that reminds us of our relationship. As we were slow dancing under the stars, Rex said "I love you" for the first time and I said it back. We were both crying happy tears--mainly just feeling blessed that God brought us together after all we had gone through. In that moment, we noticed some writing on the railing around us. Turns out someone had written bible verses all over the rails surrounding the platform. Rex & I said "I love you" for the first time completely surrounded by God's word. It was such a special moment that I will never forget. As the months passed, Rex & I knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We continued traveling, going to church and getting to know each other more and more. On September 29, 2023, Rex proposed in the exact same spot on South Mountain where we said "I love you" for the first time. He had some of my closest friends choose bible verses to pray over our marriage and wrote them on the railings that had the original scripture from April. After the proposal, Rex & I had a small picnic and then headed to my parent's house where he had planned a surprise engagement party. 40+ of our family and friends were there waiting for us to celebrate our engagement. It has been so incredible to see God's hand in our relationship and I can't wait to see the incredible things we get to experience in marriage!