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Kate & Zach:
Their Story: I played volleyball while attending Indiana Wesleyan and Zach is a member of the basketball team. We met my sophomore year, his freshmen year. I was injured with stress fractures in both my shins and Zach was recovering from knee surgery. After seeing him in the athletic training room everyday for several weeks, I finally introduced myself and we started talking. From there we continued to run into each other, and we both regularly watched the Office with friends in the game room. I am not normally too outgoing, but for some reason, I was goofy and talked with Zach more than I have with any other guy. We began dating the spring of my sophomore year (2010). Then in April 2012 Zach proposed to me. It was a week before finals and my graduation. I was swamped with papers and tests, and after class one day, Zach showed up to my apartment with dinner. He told me that he knew my week had been rough and that he wanted to try to make it better. He had gone onto Pinterest and made recipes that I had pinned to make in the future. After we ate dinner and dessert, he asked me to go upstairs with him. He walked me into my room and said he needed to explain why he had been so busy lately. As I was turning around, he unzipped his backpack and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I asked, “Is this for real?” and after reassuring me it was indeed real, I said yes! 🙂
Hannah & Chris:
Their Story: We first met in the fall of 2011 at a meeting for our respective jobs. I had recently moved to New England to work with Christian campus ministries in Worcester, MA, and Hannah was doing the same type of work at a college in Providence, RI. The two of us interacted occasionally through our network of friends, but it wasn’t until that November that we really began to know each other. While hanging out with some friends at a conference, Hannah really got my attention; there she was, this girl that I barely knew, lighting up the whole room with her laugh and contagious joy. At that moment, I started feeling with a great deal of certainty that I would like to know this person more. For the next month, I debated whether or not to ask her out; I finally did, and on December 3, we had our first date — going to dinner and attending the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Providence. As the next several months went by, our relationship grew by leaps and bounds as we began to really get a grasp on each other’s interests, beliefs, and goals in life.
Her faith in God is one of the most attractive things about Hannah. One day over breakfast we were talking about our faith in some detail, and it was then I knew for sure that I wanted to marry her. She’s an artist with a unique creativity and love of life who’s always up for an adventure. This compliments my cautious, analytical personality a great deal. She has really shown me how to relax and more fully enjoy the life God has given us. It’s that profound joy that I fell in love with. Thankfully, she has been able to see through my many flaws and love me in return.
On June 11 of this year, we were together showing some visiting friends around Providence when they disappeared. She was confused but it was all part of my plan! We slowly made our way to the waterfront, talking about our relationship and and the strong desire we had to be married. I was getting increasingly nervous as we kept talking; then she started laughing at me! Apparently my heart was beating a little fast, so she asked me what was wrong. Admittedly, I got emotional as I began to pull my grandmother’s ring out of my pocket and ask her to marry me. Hannah was completely surprised, and gave me a resounding yes! 🙂
Victoria & Nick:
Their Story: In December of 2008, Victoria was working as a teacher in Addison, IL. At this school, she developed friendships with an unusual crew of people who loved playing trivia at a local restaurant. It sounds a little nerdy, but don’t knock it ’til you try it! Joining the Eager Beavers at Roundhead’s Restaurant became a Thursday night to look forward to, but even MORE so, when, in Febuary, a new DJ came on the scene. He was young, good looking and kinda flirty… Victoria’s team encouraged her to swagger up to the DJ to ‘check’ on a few answers, and when she did, she met Nick for the very first time. She was pretty giddy with him, but mainly because he provided her with a couple of tricky answers to the trivia questions. When he asked her to stay after for a drink, she politely declined saying she needed to get home and to bed on time in order to work with the children the next day. However, when he asked her that same question the following week, she was a little more eager- it was the night before her birthday and she was ready to party! They had a quiet drink together and talked and both really enjoyed the night. When he called her the next day to wish her happy birthday, she was smitten. According to Nick, it was the moment she walked away from the DJ table, that he knew he wanted to get to know that girl. He was disappointed she didn’t stay that night, but thrilled she celebrated her birthday with him the following week. After their first date at a nice seafood restaurant, he knew he wanted to spend a lot more time getting to know her. He claims it was the best first date he ever had- and the rest, as they say, is history (in the making…). Our engagement story- I don’t have words enough to describe what an amazing proposal Nick arranged…thus, I have a video:) (He’s that awesome!) 🙂 … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odzy7pbZB-I
Kathryn & Andy:
Their Story: (Told by Kathryn) We met in August 2007 while we were both in graduate school at the University of Southern California. I am originally from upstate NY and Andy is from Colorado. During the fall semester of 2007, I was in my second year of the Social Work program and Andy was entering his last year of Law school. After just coming back from a Social Work trip in the Philippines, I was inspired to sign up for a class in the law school–and Andy was in it! I found myself coming to school early to meet Andy for “help” in understanding the readings. He was quick to oblige! After about a month, he asked me to lunch–but we didn’t make it to that lunch until the following spring. We definitely became friends first. It wasn’t until April 2008, when we were both about to graduate, that we acted on the romatic spark. By this point, I was already comitted to moving to NYC, where most of my friends from high school and college were. We had our first date exactly one month to the day that I was scheduled to leave. Determined not to be the girl who ditches her dreams for a man, I decided to move according to plan. That left us with only 4 weeks to spend together, and we pretty much threw common sense to the wind. In only a few weeks I fell head over heels for the most supportive, kind, genuine guy I had ever met–and he reciprocated! His last famous words spoken on the night of our first date: “Just so you know, I am not moving to New York, and I am not doing long distance.” Only one week later he was changing his tune! True to my word, I left for NYC in May. By that point, we were smitten and knew we would find a way to make the relationship work. I lasted 11 months in the city, and in April 2009, I moved back to LA. The rest is history!
Their Engagement: (Told by Andy) On July 1st we headed out for a weekend hike to the top of a peak at Deer Creek Canyon with Peanut by our side. Having already purchased the ring (using Kathryn’s grandmother’s diamond which is over 100 years old!) and asked for her parents’ blessing, I nervously took to ring from its hiding spot–deep in my closet and tucked behind a fake wig–and decided that, no matter what, today would be the day. By the time we got to the top of the mountain we had some cloud cover to rest under and I knew it was the perfect time. I tried my best to hide any nervousness by acting overly calm and by letting our break at the top of the mountain linger. Just as Kathryn was suggesting that we head back down, I got down on one knee and tried to begin the speech I had recited in my head the whole morning… only to find myself utterly unable to put a full sentence together. Luckily for me, as soon as I got down on one knee, Kathryn realized what was happening and started jumping up and down, clapping her hands, and squealing. Obviously, she said yes. 🙂
Sarah & Eric:
Their Story: Eric and I met while he was living in Scottsdale, AZ and I was living in Chicago, IL. He came with his friends to a restaurant I worked at and asked to order a drink from me. After I told him I’d get his server, he told her he was interested. So I walked back, actually looked at him this time, and swear I knew it was going to be something really special. We parted, never exchanged information and I thought it was a lost cause. A month later, he returned back to Chicago and came into the restaurant again to see if I was working. He didn’t see me, and as he was walking out the door, he caught my eye and I grabbed him to say hello. We exchanged numbers this time and started texting up a storm. After 2 days of this he called me and asked “I would really love to see you, but I’m supposed to fly home today. If I change my flight will you go to dinner with me?” and this was how our first date happened.
From our first date on, we spent so much time (and money) flying back and forth to see each other and began a long distance relationship. After about 6 months, we really wanted to be together all the time. I took a chance in hoping my intuitions were right and I had found someone worth moving for. So I packed up my things, quit my job, said goodbye to my family and friends, and moved half way across the country in hopes that I had found that special kind of love.
2.5 years, a golden retriever, and a new home later we are still crazy in love. Eric recently took a new job, and had to go back to Chicago for 4 months to train and learn the ropes (long distance again!!!!). But before his departure, we went out to dinner on the top of Camelback Mountain which turned into an evening I will never forget. He started acting very strange and looked sick in the car. Before our reservations, he wanted to walk around the resort and check out the new shrubs and plants he heard they had planted (and if you knew Eric you would know this is not something that would ever interest him). So on our walk, I started to realize something was up when he started with the cold sweats, nauseousness, and studdering. After about 30 minutes of standing there while he beat around the bush, he takes out the ring and hands it to me in a panic. THEN starts over, got down on 1 knee, and asked me to be his wife. I was honestly completely shocked. I knew we both wanted to get married but with everything going on with his new job and my new promotion I didn’t think it was something on his plate at that moment. I obviously said YES! 🙂
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