Addie's point of view:

Dylan and I first met in Spanish class during our sophomore year of high school. We clicked right away and became good friends. We’d spend hours on the phone, claiming to help each other with homework, but somehow, the homework never seemed to get done. Instead, we’d end up laughing with each other and losing track of time.

Even though we insisted we were just friends, there was always something more between us. The tricky part was that our timing never lined up. When Dylan started to like me, I was talking to someone else, and by the time I realized I had feelings for him, he had already moved on.

That summer, we kind of drifted apart and didn’t talk much. Junior year started and we both had to get our schedules moved around and we ended up in the same teen leadership class. Yep, there were defiantly still feelings there. It was almost like no time had passed. We’d walk to class together, joking around like old times, and of course, the phone calls started up again. Homework? Still didn’t happen. But this time I could tell it wasn’t just about being friends anymore, but we both had trouble admitting it.

After a few weeks, we knew we both had feelings for each other, so Dylan planned us a double date with some friends and we had a blast. Things moved quickly after that. Homecoming came around and Dylan finally asked me to go with him after weeks of hints. He soon later made it official by asking for my parents permission to date me, and later that night asking me to be his girlfriend. He was so nervous, but it was so sweet! Of course I said yes and never looked back.

Dylan and I have now been together for four years and every day together is a gift from the Lord. I am grateful for our friendship and love that continues to grow.

Our first date — September 20th, 2020

We started dating — October 9th, 2020

We said I love you — November 21st, 2020

Our first kiss — February 13th, 2021

Dylan proposed — January 3rd, 2024

Dylan's point of view:

Addie and I had been talking about marriage for a while, but we knew that we had some time to wait. Both of us were in college with no way of making a steady income for the two of us to make it on our own. We knew that our long term plan was to get married some time in 2025 after Addie graduated from college, but we didn't know all the details yet.

In 2023 I went on family vacation with Addie and her family to Arkansas. Chad and I went to play golf one day and I realized it was a great opportunity to ask for his blessing to marry Addie. He gave me his blessing, and as our conversation went on, he was just thinking out loud and said he thought it would be good for us to be engaged for no longer than a year. I wanted to respect that and make it happen, even though my family was going to Costa Rica for Christmas 2023 and we were taking Addie with us. Of course, my original plan was to propose there, but that would mean Addie and I would be engaged for a year and a half, so I had to come up with a new plan.

I talked to Addie about waiting a little longer before we got engaged and she didn't take it too well. She had been hinting that I should propose in Costa Rica for at least a year, so it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2023, Chad asked me if I had anything special planed for Costa Rica over Christmas break, and I let him know that I was going to wait to pop the question in the summer time, that way our engagement would be only a year long. A week or so later, I get a text from Chad letting me know that he was sad when he heard I wasn't proposing in Costa Rica. I told him I would pray about it and see what God's plan for this engagement was. Three days later, I sent Chad and Amber the ring I bought. I knew it was right, I was proposing in Costa Rica.

We traveled to Costa Rica and everything went really smoothly, until the day I was supped to propose got rained out. Thankfully, the photographer was able to reschedule us for a couple days later.

Addie had no idea. She thought we were taking family pictures, which is how it started. After each couple got their photos taken, they would head back to the main part of the beach before the tide came up too high. Addie and I were the last ones with the photographers to get our photos done.

After a couple photos together, I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. She stopped me before I could even finish. She had no idea at all! After she said yes, we went back to the main beach and we celebrated with my family. We then went to a nice restaurant and watched the sunset. It was the perfect day. Cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her.