I’ll never forget one of my first times meeting JJ…I was so curious about the story behind the winsome college guy serving in the kids’ ministry at our church without any of his friends.

During that summer of 2021, Ryan (JJ’s Best Man) made a groupchat with a bunch of friends where people shared Scripture/what they had been learning. I was impressed by JJ's sincerity and wisdom, and I recall paying a little too much attention to whether or not he responded to my messages in the group. That same summer, my friend Natalie managed to bring up JJ’s name on every single phone call. It was honestly impressive. My curiosity was piqued, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. At the end of July, JJ reached out to me personally and asked me to join his intramural volleyball team. Elated, I said yes. JJ apparently then had to scramble to actually put together an intramural volleyball team.

Coming back to school that fall, our circles crossed many times. We played spikeball with friends, helped people move, and served at church alongside one another. JJ asked me to join him to study and then to coffee, both of which I cautiously assumed were friendly hang outs with someone I didn’t know as well in our friend group. A few days after that, we went to Folly Beach with friends, and I somehow ended up driving JJ home. Those were the fastest 2.5 hours of my entire life. I was struck by JJ’s warm smile, his conversational ease, his silliness, his openness, and his kindness. He recommended some songs to me, and I recommended some books to him. He was horrified that I didn’t know much about fishing and promised to teach me.

Later that week, we went to the Saluda Riverwalk, and JJ did indeed teach me how to fish. 6 hours later (after walking the entire riverwalk), I had learned about JJ’s family, how he came around our church originally, his soccer background, and his desire to adopt one day. The adoption piece particularly had me intrigued, as this has been a longtime desire of mine and was an original part of the reason I chose to attend the church we go to (shoutout to the Ludovinas!).

I got exposed to COVID soon after and was in quarantine and sadly was going to have to miss another beach day celebrating our friend Kate’s birthday. Upon hearing I’d miss the beach day, JJ sent me COVID testing locations, dropped off groceries for me, and checked in that morning. To my delight, I got cleared and ended up making it to the beach later that Saturday! Catherine (my Matron of Honor) and JJ finagled the driving situation so I again ended up driving JJ home. We both had intently listened to the other's previous car ride recommendations, and we chatted away on a drive that felt way too short.

Soon after, we went on our first official dates, and JJ asked me to be his girlfriend on September 18th, 2021, after we watched the sunset from a parking garage and sipped kombucha.

JJ came home with me approximately 3 weeks into our dating relationship (oops!), but the way he instantly connected with my parents, played with Asher, and got to know Adam (who had a severely broken leg at the time) meant more to me than he knew. Andrew and JJ met at Thanksgiving that year when he came back from MSU!

JJ and I have since enjoyed several more walks at the river, beach days with friends, ministry events, long drives, and bottles of GT’s kombucha. We also often enjoy time with our families, episodes of Survivor, slices of cake, snowboarding days, Costco runs, póke bowls, deep cleans, and day trips.

We are so incredibly thankful for our unrivaled family, friends, and church family that have all enriched our relationship, college years, and current stage of life. So many people have walked alongside us to consistently deepen our relationships with Jesus. Our story is sweet but may it always exist to tell of His!

Photographer: Lawson Estridge

Photographer: Daisy Gamboa