ALYSSA: I never imagined any life living away from family or Minnesota. But post graduation from pharmacy school, little did I know the dream God would put on my heart for North Carolina. Before I knew it, a mother-daughter trip to check out Raleigh-Durham resulted in a connection to a pharmacist job opening in the area, and after the job offer gave me 2 weeks to move, I found myself pinching myself that it could be real.

I loved my new job, my roommate (whom I reconnected with since going to high school together at Heritage Christian Academy), and enjoying exploring with new friends. Meeting a man that made me feel, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was truly loved and our relationship was a safe space with God's blessing seemed like an impossible reality.

I have a coworker to thank for providing the avenue for Tristan and I to meet. My coworker convinced me to download a dating app through her invitation so she would get more points. I agreed but firmly declared I didn't want to meet a guy through a dating app/online. That conviction lasted for 6 months. The moment we started messaging, I knew he was special.

Our first dates could have lasted more than 4 or 5 hours we spent, and it felt natural to build a solid, foundational, emotional connection where we discovered we shared the same views on God, family, marriage, children, finances, travel and adventure, retirement and similar interests. Our favorites being contra dancing together, trying new foods and restaurants, cooking together, hiking, liking the same movie genres, music, concerts, road trips, travel, and the list goes on. It didn't take long before I knew. I LOVED THIS MAN. And I FELT so unconditionally loved, like the love I feel from Jesus.

When we took a special trip to explore Portland, Maine, Tristan had each day perfectly planned out with surprises that proved to me how well he knew me and my heart. He knelt down and asked me to be his wife at a breathtaking lighthouse on the coast. Emotions of praise, joy, feeling loved, wanted, and adored took over. The realization that this man had CHOSEN ME. He is the epic love story I had been waiting for. He is the answer to numerous prayers. And I'm beyond grateful and looking forward to being his partner in all that is to come.

TRISTAN:

I had been looking for God to provide direction in my life after graduating college. I wasn’t sure where to settle or what career to pursue. I would have never guessed that he would end up speaking through my best friend Daniel. Daniel talked me into going into student debt and coming back to North Carolina to get my MBA. Once I was back, it didn’t take long to feel like I was exactly where I needed to be.

One by one things in life started to line up: good friends, high marks in class, and a successful internship that turned into a career job, and even got my dog Nova. But what I wanted more than anything was to find the woman that I could unreservedly give myself to.

Perhaps I wasn’t looking in the right places, but past experiences had lead me to think that my expectations were too high. I felt that expecting to connect with someone to the depth I wanted was like a fairytale, one better suited to a Disney movie instead of my life. Little did I know that God had a Christmas gift for me. Alyssa and I matched on a dating app over the holidays and planned our 1st date after 2 weeks or texting.

On that date, over dinner, she was on the hunt. On the hunt for a good reason why this guy wasn’t going to work out. And what can I say, she didn’t find one on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd date where all we did was talk and flirt for 3+ hours. So finally, it was on our 4th date that I went for a kiss. Went out to the movies, after gladly signing up for a chick flick, and waited for one of the better parts…but nope…not happening. She turned me down!

Playing hard to get certainly worked on me, but I was immediately drawn to everything that I saw in Alyssa. She is incredibly genuine and kind, empathetic and positive, intelligent and godly. I thought “WOW! This woman is who I’d always wanted but had stopped believing existed.” I knew if I got a kiss, I would be done, and sure enough on the 5th date, she laid one on me.

It wasn’t long after then that I knew I loved her, but she wasn’t going to give in quite that early. A few months later we were at a friend’s wedding. I was so happy to be sharing that time with her that we lived the cliché and danced “like no one was watching.” She must have liked my moves because that night she finally told me she loved me.

I was still way ahead of her though, because I had decided to marry her well before she said that. So then I just had to figure out the earliest possible date that I could pop the question. The date finally landed on Dec 3rd, and I got to work. Got the ring, planned out a full destination weekend, and picked the spot. Overlooking the ocean, under a picturesque lighthouse in Portland Maine after days of the best food and fun, she said YES! I am so incredibly blessed to have Alyssa as my life’s partner and so glad I get to share this prologue to Our Story which is really just beginning……..