If you asked Anna Porter if she would ever marry someone funnier than her, she wouldn’t hesitate before saying no. Unfortunately for her, it's not too hard to beat someone whose jokes consist only of movie quotes. That being said, Anna is from Atlanta, Georgia, where people are typically a lot nicer than where I (Daniel Russo) am from.

Anna has two older brothers and one younger sister. I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with her family, which is another reason I’m so excited to marry her. I come from an amazing New Jersey Italian family full of boys. So I’m sure you can already see why Anna and I don’t always have the same methods of talking about things. I tend to be loud and straightforward, while she likes to be gentle and nuanced. But that’s exactly why it works.

Now, moving on to more of our story.

We didn’t meet by random chance. It was a plan God had orchestrated long before we met. And typically, when we explain how we met, we have to make sure people are still following along—so try your best.

Anna went to school and played volleyball at William & Mary in Virginia and played a fifth year and got her master’s at Colorado State. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in soccer (kidding—it was economics). After 3.5 years, I got drafted to play professional soccer for Atlanta United. After asking four people to room with me, the fifth finally said yes—a fellow draftee named Javier Armas, who played at Oregon State and is from Spain.

At this time, Anna was finishing her master’s online from Colorado State, so she was living with her parents in Atlanta. While at William & Mary, she had become close friends with a lot of the men’s soccer team there (no shocker—she’s marrying a soccer guy). One of her best friends, Alfredo Bozalongo, was also from Spain and had stayed with her family after graduation to spend a few more months in the U.S.

When Javi and I got settled in, Alfredo messaged him—they had known each other briefly from Spain—and invited him over for dinner and to meet the family. Javi went, came back saying how amazing they were, and invited me to meet them too.

The next evening, we went out for trivia night at Fado (a bar), and right away, I knew I was in when I found out Anna’s older brother and mom also went to Notre Dame. Domers love Domers—it’s just a fact. For Anna, it was love at first sight. For me, it was just great to finally meet some community, since I had moved to Atlanta knowing no one.

That was the first night we met, and we both walked away with very different expectations of what would happen next. Despite that, we stayed friends for months. We hung out all the time, and to be honest, I didn’t think much of it—I was being a naive guy, while Anna (and everyone else around us) thought we should already be dating.

During this time, we also began exploring our faith. Both of us grew up with Christian parents who instilled good values in us, but we hadn’t yet fully realized where those values came from. Javi, who was a Christian, began helping us by simply inviting us to church. That church is where Jesus began working in both of our hearts.

I was meeting with the men for Bible studies, and Anna was meeting with the women. Our shared faith helped deepen our friendship in a meaningful way. And honestly, if it weren’t for God, I wouldn’t have seen the amazing woman right in front of me.

It wasn’t until April 2, 2024, when I tore my ACL, that God made it clear to me this was the woman I was supposed to be with—but not right away. I spent four weeks after surgery on crutches, and Anna was there constantly to help and take care of me. Not because she had a crush on me (which she did), but because that’s just the kind of person she is. I see it every day—in how she treats everyone, no matter who they are.

Two weeks post-surgery, God gave her the courage to ask me out. Unluckily for her, I still wasn’t ready. I told her no—I saw us just as friends and didn’t want to risk losing her or her family if things didn’t work out.

Two weeks later, the Porters offered to take care of me while Javi was out of town and I was still basically helpless. Of course, I said yes—and it was the best decision I ever made. I spent the entire week going on "friendly" dates with Anna (since I had rejected her just two weeks earlier), and it slowly became clear I had feelings for her.

So I prayed. And prayed. And God made it abundantly clear—it was time to ask her out.

So I did. She hesitated—like any sane woman would. She asked what the heck had changed in two weeks, and honestly, all I could say was that God changed my heart.

Anna is the most amazing woman I could ever ask for. There’s never a moment I’m not laughing with—or more often, at—her. She cares deeply for not only me, but for everyone and everything. She’s beautiful, smart, kind, and hardworking. But even with all those amazing qualities, that’s not what makes her the most attractive to me.

It’s her love for Jesus.

He’s the real hero in this story. Without Him, there would be no story. And without Him, there would be no wedding to celebrate.

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