Stephen's story: It was my birthday, June 17th, 201. Stacy and I were attending a leadership meeting for a mission trip we would be going on the following morning. Of the 20 people there we just happened to sit across from each other at the end of a long foldable table. As we sat down, a thought drifted across my mind, almost surprising me: "I can't wait to get closer with Stacy on this trip." We had known each other for almost a year at this point, but had never had more than a conversation in passing at church. As you all know who have been lucky to know Stacy, she has the most radiant joy, infectious smile, and the deepest love and care for anyone she interacts with, and I couldn't wait to get to know her more deeply. Knowing that I would be leaving for college in CA in a mere 2 months, however, it was simply a desire to become her friend. Oh how quickly that changed! Before long, we were stopping for lunch the next day, and I was determined to stand by her in line so I could sit at her table. Lucky for me, my plan was a success! As we were walking with our trays of food and our cups to the soda fountain, I remember feeling a sort of nervousness wash over me. Well- next thing I knew, I spilled all of my potatoes locos (glorified tater tots) all over the floor. Smooth, right? She laughed and it served as the perfect icebreaker. Not long after sitting down across from her I felt a pit in my stomach and thought, "Dang, I might like this girl." Again, I was about to move halfway across the country for the next four years, so the timing was not exactly ideal. Anyway, the rest of the day goes by, and I could not stop thinking about Stacy. Wherever she was, I wanted to be. So that night after the middle schoolers went to bed, a few of us had talked about playing basketball that night, and as it turns out, I'm pretty sure I only invited Stacy to play.

Stacy's story: Stephen was the coolest person that I knew, so I for sure thought there was no way he could like me! He was the kindest, yet most popular person at our church and I honestly wanted to be his friend so badly, but I knew there was no way! Flash forward to Middle School Mission Trip and we were both leaders on the trip. I remember seeing him at the meeting the day before and thinking "Yes! Stephen's going on this trip! Maybe we'll become friends!". Day 1 kicked off and we stopped at the ICONIC Taco Mayo. I had friends from the year before so I got my food and then went to sit by them. While I was getting my drink, Stephen spilled his entire plate of potatos locos on the counter in front of me. I helped him pick them up and then went and sat down. Afterward, he came and sat across the table from me. I remember we talked for the whole lunch and then he asked if I wanted to share dessert pizza with him (how romantic). I said sure and thought nothing of it at the time, but I did take a picture of him with the dessert pizza bc I thought it would be a fun memory especially if we became really good friends. I did not know this then, but Stephen also took a picture of me where I looked terrible. I guess he was nervous to ask! On day 2 of the trip, Stephen and I stayed up really late talking to each other and that's when I realized I really liked him. The rest of the trip we continued to talk and laugh, and the middle schoolers were also trying to set us up, coming up with our lovely ship name of Stooby! I knew I really liked him, but I also thought there was no way he could like me. I honestly thought he liked this other girl leader on the trip. However, on June 20th, day 3 of the trip I sent this message to my best friend Kate: "dude this is gonna be the dumbest sounding thing ever but i literally think I found the person I'm gonna marry on this trip". There's more to the message but I think Kate tells the story the best so I'll leave it to her. After just 3 days of knowing Stephen and being a mere 16 years old, I somehow knew that Stephen and I were gonna get married, and now were about to:)) He asked me on our first date the day after we got back from the trip, and we went on it on June 23rd, 2018. I also did not know this was a date because Stephen asked me if I wanted to go to church with him and then get dinner after... Stephen will say I did know it was a date because I dressed fancy, did my makeup, and hair, but like I said I really liked him and I wanted him to like me! After our first date, I went to Connecticut for about two weeks and we facetimed every single night. The first night facetiming for 8 hours and watching the sunrise together. I guess you could say this was a little preview at what our relationship would be, since we were long distance for 4 and 1/2 ish years and facetimed, texted, or called almost every one of those days! When I came back on July 12th, Stephen drove to my house and brought flowers and cookie cake and just sat in my front yard and talked to me. The day after we spent the day together looking for matching overalls for HSMT, getting Corner Bakery (RIP), and spending some time at the pond at our church which is so special to us:)) We then finished the night where we watched the sunset over Katy Woods at Grapevine Lake and sat in an eno. Stephen then asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend and of course, I said yes! He had a long and sweet speech, but sadly both of us were so nervous and excited that we forgot most of it. The past 5 years have been just as sweet and filled with so much love, growth, care, and being held. I'm so thankful for Stephen and still to this day can't believe that he likes me! Anyway I'm almost out of characters, but I'm so excited for what our future holds and so excited that you all are going to see a 5+ year dream fulfilled:))