I was 16 years old and starting my first "real job” as a lifeguard at Papio Bay. As I looked around the pool deck at my new fellow employees, my eyes stopped on a dark-haired boy with his hat flipped backwards a few chairs away and I vividly remember thinking, “Whoa, he’s really cute, I wonder who he is!" Little did I know I would be marrying him someday!

Daniel and I got to know each other over the next three summers through teaching swim lessons together and goofing around while playing sand volleyball with our work friends on rainy days. I had a crush on him from that first summer, and I always felt like we got along exceptionally well, but I could never have predicted the love story that was to come.

Our first “date” that third summer was Daniel teaching me how to slack-line in Halleck Park after work (the same spot where he proposed years later!!).

Daniel was in school at UNO and I was starting college at Rockhurst University in KC, so we were long-distance pretty much from the start. When Daniel graduated and commissioned as an officer in the Air Force to pursue a career as a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller), we did longer-distance for a while while he was stationed in North Carolina. I loved his spontaneous, adventurous spirit and how he was smart and driven and passionate about the things he cared about. I loved how he wrote me letters and was romantic in an old-timey way. And though I truly loved him, our lives seemed to be heading in separate directions. We broke up and it was the worst! (I won’t burden you all with the details of my misery, but I’m pretty sure I went through the full-blown 5 Stages of Grief.)

We stayed in touch here and there over the next few years, and I could never shake the feeling that nothing was ever going to compare to him.


And then somewhere along the way I decided to just let go and let God--let Him reveal the right guy in time, trusting that His plan was better than my own. I began to pray for my future husband, not knowing who he was or where he was, but praying for his happiness, safety, successes, and struggles in the time until we found each other.

In 2017, Daniel was deployed to the Middle East. Sometime during the nine months he was overseas, he reached out and asked if I'd be up for grabbing a drink when he was returned to the States and was home for the holidays. I nervously agreed that it would be fun to catch up, not knowing that it would change my life forever! We met up at the little wine bar, La Buvette, in downtown Omaha and though we hadn't seen each other in nearly two years, my nerves started to vanish with that first hello hug. It felt familiar and right. That night, Daniel told me that his time overseas had altered his priorities, and that during an extremely dangerous night while deployed, he had thought of getting home to me and hadn't stopped thinking about us since. Needless to say, this was a LOT to process (Like, I thought this was just a casual catch-up drink, buddy!).

Looking back, I now realize that during that pivotal time in Daniel’s life, I was unknowingly praying for him as I prayed for my future husband. We both find it an incredible testament to the way God works in our lives before we are even aware of it.

After that night, I knew what I had always known on some level: Daniel and I were meant to be together. He was being stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas as an instructor for the JTAC community, so once again, we did long-distance. Then, one weekend in September when Daniel was back in Papillion, he suggested getting coffee and going on a mid-morning walk in Halleck Park, which we occasionally did. I suggested that it might be fun to switch it up and go to the Farmer’s Market downtown, which for some reason Daniel didn’t seem very excited about. Oblivious, I agreed that a walk in the park sounded pleasant. It was the perfect early-fall day, and just as I realized we were in the same spot we'd had our first kiss, I turned around to find Daniel down on one knee, asking me the question I'd always dreamed: “Will you marry me?” After saying “Oh my gosh!” about a hundred times, I said “YES!” with all my heart and he slipped the most perfect oval diamond on my finger.

I thought I loved Daniel before (“Round One” as we jokingly refer to it), and I did, but it is nothing compared to the way I love him now. The time we spent apart made us stronger as individuals and as a couple. He has become a man of deeper faith and I have witnessed his integrity, compassion, patience, and strength on new levels. I can’t wait for our future family to have a man like him to look up to.

The time since our engagement has been a whirl-wind, and we are still doing the long-distance thing for the time-being. Knowing that we get to spend the rest of our lives together makes the distance worth it and we are counting down the days until we can finally be together in the same city, for good!! We can’t wait to celebrate with you all in August, and we are so excited to see what our future holds!