For those of you who haven't heard the so-called, "Hallmark" story of how we met, prepare yourself.

To start this story we must go back to when I was a sophomore in high school. I was on a bus on the way to my soccer game. My best friend, Allee was sitting next to me, and of course like young girls do, we were talking about boys. She had mentioned a guy who went to her Church, who on top of having an amazing personality, had pretty great hair too. Which was definitely a "must have" on my check list. Allee assured me that our personalities would go so well together. She then proceeded to show me a picture of Caden, and I didn't disagree, he did have nice hair. I told her I'd follow him on Instagram, and see what happens. A couple weeks later I found out he had a girlfriend AND he had never followed me back. Ugh you can imagine my disappointment, however he didn’t even know I existed, so I couldn’t really be that upset by it. I must have been a little bitter though, because I unfollowed him after that.

I never thought of him again, for the entire year that is. I was a junior and coincidentally had a game at Willard, which if you didn’t know, that’s where Caden went to High school. Even though we were playing them I still didn’t think he would be watching and didn’t notice he was watching either. During the game, I rolled my ankle and had to sit the rest of the game out. I was bummed but at least I didn’t know Caden was there or else I would have felt so dumb. After the game my parents took me to Taco Bell, which I think has only happened once. Anyway, I walked in and you will never guess who was there… well actually you probably already guessed it. It was Caden. He was with some of his friends and a couple girls.. Not that I noticed or anything. I tried to avoid eye contact, I had this weird feeling he could see how embarrassed I was to be limping in Taco Bell with only one shoe on. However, I was calmed by the fact that I wouldn’t have to talk to him. Well I was wrong about that. I was in line and they were about to leave when someone said, “Hey, are you okay? That girl really took you out.” Sweating, I looked over and it was Caden.

Laughing awkwardly, I quickly responded with, “Oh yeah. Haha I’m okay, just a little swollen.”

If I’m being honest, I can’t remember anything after that. We finally left and on the drive home I received an instagram notification… Caden had requested to follow me. I thought to myself, “Finally!”

I was wrong again. He never messaged me and I never talked to him again, well for the whole summer.

It was September 2019, I was going into my Senior year of school, Caden was already out of school at this point. A great friend of mine asked if I wanted to grab some coffee and catch up. Of course I said yes, and he asked if I had ever been to a coffee shop called Eurasia. I hadn’t been, so we ended up going there. When I arrived and walked in, I was in shock. Caden, just happened to be working as the barista that day. Another strange coincidence. He made me my drink and continued to talk to me. He asked me about my best friend's wedding and a few other things. After that encounter, I didn’t talk to him again… Just kidding, he directly messaged me on Instagram the next day!

After that day, we hung out a few more times and texted often, when he finally asked me on a date. He drove down to pick me up, met my parents, and brought me some flowers. We went out to eat and then went bowling. I found out quickly that he was an amazing guy and someone I knew would end up meaning a lot to me. We never had any dull moments, no awkward, “now what” in conversations, and we could talk for hours. I found myself being able to open up to him about past hurts and things I’ve dealt with. He just listened for hours, giving feedback at just the right moments, while not seeming pushy or judgy. We quickly became each other's good friends and on October 20th, 2019. We decided to start dating.

I can’t say that it was all rainbows and butterflies but it has been pretty close, sure we had some bumps along the way, but they have really brought us closer together. I fully believe God brought us together at just the right moment. We have become each others best friends, both working to be the best versions of ourselves, while trying to be who God has called us to be, and it has been such an amazing adventure. On September 19th 2021, Caden asked me to marry him. Of course I said, “Yes!” We are so excited for this next chapter and can’t wait to see how God uses us for his kingdom.