Here is the story of Mark and Adrid’s journey to engagement

It all started during the craziness of Covid. Mark had just decided to leave the Seminary and Adrid was in her first year of college. Mark was going through an existential crisis and Adrid was really struggling to adjust to her first year of college. That is when Mark and Adrid first met. To be more specific, Adrid and Mark met through Moorhead College Campus Ministry (MCCM). It would be cool to think that Mark and Adrid instantly clicked and helped each other during the COVID chaos, but that is not what happened. Mark was too scared to talk to Adrid because of how quiet she was, and Adrid was too scared to talk to Mark because she did not think she had a chance at who she called "her old man crush". Mark left MCCM shortly after, while he pursued his Master’s degree in counseling and Adrid continued to pursue her under grad in Psychology.

For the next two or so years, Adrid and Mark stayed pretty distant, only saying hi to each other in passing at the gym they both often frequented. Adrid had about given up on finding a guy in Moorhead and had thoughts of moving down to Florida after she graduated. Mark was pretty tired of making a fool of himself by putting himself into the dating world, and really had no idea where he was going to go next in life.

Then, (pause for dramatic effect) one afternoon at the Minnesota State University Wellness Center the world changed for these young and wandering people. At first, everything went as it normally did between Mark and Adrid. Mark saw Adrid in the gym and he said hi and she smiled and said hi back. But then, something different happened for Mark. When he said hi to her this time, he felt a pull towards Adrid that he had never felt before. He looked at her, and for the first time he thought “Wow, she is beautiful. I think I need to at least try something to see if I have a shot with her”.

He ran a lap or two around the track, with his heart pounding in his chest and with his thoughts trying to convince him to go talk to her again. Eventually, his courage won out. With a churning stomach and a heart full of hope, he talked with her again. Adrid and Mark can’t really remember how this next conversation started, but eventually the conversation led to Mark and Adrid figuring out that they both worked at Prairie St. John’s Mental Health Hospital. As they talked about Prairie, Mark saw an opportunity to take the relationship one step further. Using the let bit of courage he had left, he gave Adrid his number and told her to reach out if she ever wanted to talk about mental health, life or working at Prairie.

Adrid’s heart was racing the whole time Mark was talking to her. Once Mark gave her his number, she was just trying to hold in the excitement. She could not hold in the excitement long. Right after talking to Mark at the gym, Adrid immediately called one of her best friends, Kendra. She then went and bought Kendra and her both a smoothy so she could talk more about what happened in the gym.

In the mean time Mark was at work, trying not to get his hopes up too high that Adrid would text back. A few hours went by of Mark working and Adrid talking out her next move with Kendra, before Adrid made the next move. She sent Mark a text that went something like “Hey this is Adrid, I just want to make sure that I have the right phone number.” Being relieved that she finally had made her move, now the waiting game began.

Meanwhile, Mark had just received the text at work. He was overjoyed by the text message, but was so overwhelmed by the pressure of what to say, that he did not respond until after he completed that last few hours of his shift. The texting game had officially begun.

Both Mark and Adrid had their friends and family on speed dial. Mark was calling and texting his good friends Jordan and Michaela. Adrid was on the phone with her sister Michelle, one of her other best friends Brooke, and Kendra. Eventually, after Mark and Adrid had been trying to figure out whether the other person was as interested as they were, Mark asked Adrid if she wanted to work out together. To his disbelief, fear and excitement, Adrid (in her nervousness and excitement) said yes.

At this point, the anxiety and excitement were high. Adrid had never said more than a few sentences out loud to Mark. She was a mystery, and he was worried about what to say to her and that she would only say a few words back. Yet, he so wanted to be there. Meanwhile, Adrid was also nervous about working out with a guy, because she had never done that before. And yet, there was also something in her that pushed her to go, despite her nerves. Needless to say, love was in the air.

Unfortunately, their first encounter at the gym was awful…HAHA, just kidding. Mark was awestruck at how easy it was to talk to Adrid. Not only did she say more than a few words, she was actually leading most of the conversation, and even asked some pretty personal questions about Mark’s faith life. On the other hand, Adrid had expected, since shortly after they had met two years ago, that if her and Mark were to have a one on one conversation, it would go really well. She was really happy with how things went and was concerned that she had talked to much. Mark didn’t think so at all. In fact, Mark remembers going home after lifting with Adrid, lying on his memory foam fold out couch/bed thingy and thinking to himself “I think I am going to marry this girl”.

Things started ramping up from there. More and more texting happened and eventually phone calls, then more frequent and longer phone calls. Then, Adrid made the next move. She asked Mark out on official date to get ice cream. After getting ice cream at Silver Linings downtown, they went for a walk. Mark was nervous and trying to feel out whether Adrid would be a good fit and Adrid was confident and hoping that they would hang out again. As the night went on, Mark worked up the courage to finally take his shot at kissing her. He was terribly nervous, so he thought it best to ask her if he could kiss her. She said yes, but afterwards, Adrid went on to say to Mark that he had went out of order. She proceeded to tell Mark that usually the guy holds the hand, then gives a hug, and then gives a kiss. Mark going straight for the kiss made things a bit awkward, but his awkward moment didn’t put out the spark of love that had started. Oh, and by the end of the evening they had kissed, hugged and held hands.

One date led to many more. Conversations became deeper. Dancing together became more frequent. More and more time was spent with one another. Families were introduced and road trips were taken. Eventually, on March 29, 2024, after 9 months of dating Mark popped the question to Adrid. Even after Mark, because of how nervous he was, tried to put the ring on Adrid’s pointer finger (how do you mess that up?!?), Adrid said yes and, with a few giggles reminded Mark of which finger the ring should be on.

As now officially engaged, Adrid is not wanting to move to Florida anymore. Mark’s existential crisis has been resolved. Now, they are supporting each other on the topsy-turvy road that working in a mental health hospital, finishing up college, and preparing for a wedding brings.

And there you have it. Thanks for reading the story of how Mark and Adrid’s journey to engagement. They hope you can join them to celebrate their wedding 😊