Amanda and I first met on June 19th, 2018. I was at UNG for my freshman orientation. After two days of activities and learning more about what my college experience would be like, I was exhausted. I was running on only a few hours of sleep and was ready to go home. When I went to get my stuff from the room I had been staying in, I found out my dad had made a friend! He had heard this orientation leader introduce herself as an accounting major, and he had an accounting degree. When he saw an opportunity, he naturally struck up conversation. They talked about accounting, local churches, and more for about an hour, while he was waiting on me to register for classes and check out so we could head home. When I finally came out with bags under my eyes, my dad introduced me to this orientation leader named Amanda! He told me how helpful and informative she was, and then even asked for her to give me her number in case I had any questions. In all honesty, I was too tired to be embarrassed, but my phone was in my bag, so I gave her my number instead. Who would’ve thought at that moment that I would’ve just met my future wife? Shoutout to the best wingman. Anyways, we sent a few general texts, basically saying I could reach out if I had any questions, but nothing really came of it.

I saw Amanda a few times on campus my freshman year, but didn’t really connect with her at first. We had mutual friends, and I talked to her a few times, but it wasn’t until I became an orientation leader that we really became friends. The first activity of a long summer as orientation leaders was a weekend retreat as a team. I don’t remember a ton of my interactions with her from that weekend, except one. We were doing a speed dating activity (I guess this was our first date?) to get to know each other. When I matched with Amanda, the topic was about a song that had meaning. It was the first topic we had been given where I felt like I was vulnerable with my answer, partially because of my passion for meaningful music, and partially because I just felt naturally comfortable around her. I told her about a song called Kevin’s Heart that brought me back to some happy moments from high school, singing that song with my friend Kevin with the windows down in the car (not the same Kevin in the song). It was only a five minute conversation, but I opened up to someone for the first and only time that weekend.

Amanda and I became friends quickly. She was close friends with Jillian, who I was friends with in high school and had gotten closer with my freshman year of college. I would hang out with them, along with some of our other friends, a lot early on during the summer. Being an orientation leader was not something I was prepared for. I quickly found myself in one of the loneliest stages of my life, despite being around people 24/7. It was different when I was around Amanda. I felt supported and cared for, despite not knowing her super well. So I decided I wanted to get to know this girl better! I talked to Jillian and our other friend Udis about it, and they both loved the idea of us. Over the next couple weeks, I tried to get to know Amanda better, with some help from friends. Amanda, being the sleuth that she is, caught on pretty quickly. On June 15th, 2019, I asked Amanda to breakfast at Foothill Grill (which was our first, official date). We spent a couple hours talking there, before heading to the residence hall we were living at and talking for another five hours or so. It felt so natural talking to her and being vulnerable. Three days later, after I had an intimate moment with God in the rain, I asked Amanda to talk and told her that I had feelings for her. She didn’t want to rush into things, but she made it clear she was interested. Not knowing we were going to have this conversation, Jillian had scheduled for Amanda and I to work parent orientation at the Cumming campus the next day, which basically meant that we spent the entire day together, just us two, hanging out and occasionally introducing a speaker. Working orientations all day and then hanging out after allowed us to get super close very quickly after that.

On July 10th, 2019, we became official! Our friend Preston had been investing in me that summer. I met with him a few mornings for coffee and to read through scripture. Thanks to his guidance, Amanda and I took our relationship seriously from the beginning. While we didn’t say that early on that we were for sure going to get married, we did date with the intent to pursue marriage. We were clear about our intentions and didn’t want to waste each other’s time. Spending our early days talking about what we wanted for the future allowed us to grow together without scaring each other off. We haven’t stopped getting to know each other, which is something I love about our relationship.

One of the things I learned about her was that she loved sunsets. So, when she joined my family for a Labor Day weekend trip to Hilton Head, I was so excited to show her. In fact, I planned to tell her I loved her, on the beach, during the sunset. So you can imagine my frustration when dinner took too long, and it was too dark to see the sunset! Amanda could actually tell how upset I was and knew something was up, even though I tried to hide it. Despite the lack of sunset, I still told Amanda I loved her on the beach on September 1st, 2019.

After two years, five months, and seven days of dating, I was ready to ask Amanda to marry me. On December 17th, 2021, I graduated from UNG. Immediately after that, Amanda was under the impression that we were going to go eat at Pueblo’s in Dahlonega. In reality, I was just trying to get her on the square in Dahlonega, under the Christmas lights, with both of us dressed nicely. I was so incredibly nervous, so it was obvious to her that something was up. Thankfully, she didn’t suspect that I was going to get down on one knee. So, I was able to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me, before we went and celebrated with family. I was so relieved that we were finally able to experience that night, because it was really difficult to keep it from her! I like to tell Amanda everything, so it was nice to not have to keep this secret from her.

I feel so blessed to be able to marry a woman like Amanda. She has been everything I’ve needed and more. Time and time again, she’s been so supportive, loving, thoughtful, and caring towards me and others. I’m so appreciative of our communication and understanding of each other. She’s a mature, responsible, Godly woman. I know she’s going to be the most amazing wife and mom one day. I can count on her in every situation and am excited to see how God uses and grows us throughout the rest of our lives. Together.