Rainier Avenue Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

Seward Park, Seattle, WA, United States

Reception

Our Wedding

I had a sense even before meeting Jaamar that he was someone I could see myself with long-term. In contrast to other first dates and even former relationships, I never experienced that strong sense of optimism like I did with Jaamar. Prayers for a PartnerIn February of last year, a friend from church invited me to join her and other single women to pray for Christian husbands. I thought it would be a one-time event, but we began praying weekly. I was simultaneously prayer-journaling on my own and by July had grown frustrated, accusing God of being stubborn and whining about failed relationships. God's reply was simple:"Stop. Stop pitying yourself, My beloved. I have a man for you and I will bring you two together in just the right season if you wait just a little bit longer--6 months in fact. That's how long until I bring your waiting and wondering to fruition, to completion and fulfillment in a marriage covenant by My word and power."Coffee Meets BagelIn December, I reactivated an online dating account. It had been a few years since I'd tried online dating and I'd been hesitant to meet people through the internet again after my last relationship with a guy I met online ended with his arrest for domestic violence. A couple of my housemates were simultaneously using a dating app called "Coffee Meets Bagel" and convinced me to join so they could get more "beans", a virtual commodity that enables a variety of features within the app. Within a few days, Jaamar and I connected and began to chat.Looking for More Fans?Jaamar lived in Portland and I thought it was odd we were matched because my settings were for the Seattle area. I could see from his profile pictures that Jaamar lead worship music when I said I'd like to hear him sometime, he directed me to playlists of his albums on Spotify as well as Facebook band pages. I thought, "Great. This guy uses online dating to get more 'likes' on his fan pages."Blogs and HarmonicaBut then I sent him a link to my latest blog post and he not only read it but responded with a LONG, thoughtful reflection and said he would like to read more! Meanwhile I started listening to his albums on Spotify and finally asked the question that had been plaguing me: "I can't help but wonder how a good-looking Christian single guy who plays guitar and leads worship doesn't have 25,000 women after him! :)" Jaamar replied that he was blushing, told me the story behind the song I was listening to and gave me his phone number. Then he said, "25,000 is crazy, but having one very-hot-and-super-interesting-woman-who-writes-blogs-and-plays-harmonica coming after me...now that would be awesome:)" Game changer! I realized then he was interested in ME as more than a fan number.Instant ClickWe chatted back and forth constantly for about a week then began to FaceTime through Facebook Messenger, talking every night for two or three hours. About a week prior to meeting in-person, Jaamar wrote me a lengthy email telling me how he wanted to know everything about me. It was the kind of words most women dream of hearing from a lover, but particularly someone like me who's love language is words of affirmation!When we met in-person, we clicked as well. Jaamar put his arm around my shoulder and it felt natural. I took him adventuring around Seattle to a water tower, green house, Christmas light's display on Candy Cane Lane and my favorite Indian restaurant where I'm friends with the owners who are from Bangladesh (he said it was attractive to hear me chat with them in Bengali). He even got to have dinner with my housemates and meet my best friend!"Love You Forever"New Year's Eve Jaamar gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a poem he had written and told me "I love you." Later that weekend, he said, "I don't just love you; I want to love you forever." The words from my prayer journal six months prior popped in my mind: "6 months...that's how long until I bring your waiting and wondering to fruition, to completion and fulfillment in a marriage covenant by My word and power." A couple weeks later, Jaamar brought up the "M" word: "How soon can we start talking about marriage?" he asked. Normally I would've thought he was crazy, but I recognized that he was a fulfillment of the promise God had spoken of to me in July. Plus, I felt additional peace having discovered a ton of mutual connections with his family and leaders in the church where my office is.Modern GentlemanRecently I told Jaamar he is the "perfect modern gentleman" right after he opened the door for me to drive. He embraces life as much as I do and enjoys trying new things whether that's cooking or rollerblading! Being long-distance, we've both gotten each other to try new methods of communication: he introduced me to a video-messaging app called Marco Polo and I introduced him to using Bitmojis (cartoon-characters to look like yourself) and convinced him to reactivate SnapChat just so our characters could be together! I"m looking forward to taking him on many more world-wide adventures in our upcoming years together :)

Composer Meets Blogger: Emily's Recap

I had a sense from the very beginning that Emily wasn't like anyone else I had ever met before. Although she had similarities to what I had thought would be ideal, she just did things differently. And it was very alluring. She is outgoing, but not overbearing. She is a thinker and likes strategy games, but doesn't overthink things in a way that prevents her from action...and she doesn't even play chess! She also likes to be active, but prefers climbing a wall to playing basketball. Different. But awesome. And I quickly began to see how God was intertwining our stories.Prayers for a PartnerI've always been praying for my future wife, but in the last year or so it had gotten much more intense. I would journal and ask God when I would finally get to meet 'her' and would often wonder when it would get to the point where I would allow myself to settle for less than God's best just so I could become a husband and eventually a father. I'd felt like I'd tried everything that I knew how to do including online dating, meeting women in bars and even blind dates. Nothing seemed to work. So I kept praying. It was all I had left.Coffee Meets BagelI was watching 'Shark Tank' a couple years ago and saw a pitch for a new dating app. Although the creators didn't get a deal on the show, I remember thinking that it looked much better than other dating sites I'd tried, and so within a couple days I had created a profile. I met a few people in two years, but had gotten to the point where I didn't want to invest any more money into it. But I would go on the app every day and collect the free "beans" that were available, just in case someone caught my eye. Then one random night in December, after I was tired from playing basketball, I saw that I'd gotten a message from Emily. We starting chatting, and within a couple days, I knew I wouldn't need to worry about collecting any more free beans.Looking for More Fans?Meeting people is always tricky. Especially people I've never seen before. There's always this balance of trying to impress people and show them how cool I am, and giving them a reason to be intrigued, while also sounding calm and humble and not coming across as arrogant, or (maybe even worse,) uninteresting. So when Emily asked me about my music, I just figured I would direct her to where she could find out for herself if she liked it, and that way, I wouldn't have to talk about it.Blogs and HarmonicaAround the same time that she was finding out about my music, I was finding out that she played harmonica. This was great news to me and I became really curious. Then I found out that she wrote a blog and just wanted to read everything that she'd written. I knew that reading what she wrote would tell me a LOT about the person she is. It was a way to see what she's really like, and what she really cares about, and I was very interested. So that night I read as many blogs as I could and came away VERY impressed. She was different. And I liked it.Instant ClickAfter a few days of messaging back and forth, I knew I wanted to meet in person. But since that wasn't possible right away, I began sending videos just to try to show her more of who I was. Then one day I saw that she had sent me and old video of her and her friend talking about some crazy adventure they'd gone on. I clicked on it instantly. It was over 11 minutes, but I probably watched it 3 or 4 times that first night. And at that point, before we even met in person, I was convinced that she was awesome, and that I would do everything I could to let her know my thoughts. So the next morning, I woke up at 6 AM on a Saturday and I did what I knew best. I started writing and composed what would eventually become an email that I sent to her, just telling her how I felt and that I wanted to get to know her even more. By the time we actually met in person, the only thing weird about meeting was that it wasn't weird at all! We had such a great time, and it just seemed so natural and easy. Shortly after that, she showed me how to find even more videos of her on Facebook. Each one of them became an instant click.Love You ForeverI had big plans for New Year's Eve, and although I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to pull them all off, or even if I was, the one thing I knew I wanted to do was to tell Emily that I loved her. I know that some people throw around words and phrases very loosely, and even flippantly, but for me this was a big deal. In my mind, once I said those words, I was going to forever live like they were true. New Year's Eve was an amazing night where I learned both how hard it was to make plans with Emily in advance, as well as how fun and exciting it was to go on a spontaneous adventure where my plans meant very little. And soon after that, I felt like I needed to expound on what exactly it was I meant when I told her that I loved her. That was when my preparation collided with improvisation, and I told her that I wanted to love her 'Forever'. I had seen and learned enough. She had captured my heart. And I was ready for forever.Modern GentlemanI remember being a teenager and thinking about the type of person, father and husband I wanted to be someday. I had grown up learning about what it means to be a gentleman and decided to make that my goal. I wanted to be kind and to serve people. Always. No matter what job or status I had. Especially towards my wife. I had an admiration for men when, often from afar, I would see them serve their wife, and open the door for her. So I would practice those behaviors, not just in romantic relationships, but in every relationship. Whenever I could. I would open doors for strangers and prefer others to go ahead of me in line, and try my best to pay attention to those around me to see if I could help in any way. Even while driving, I would teach myself to be aware of my surroundings and try to serve others as much as possible. So when I hear others refer to me as a gentleman, it really is an honor. It's a realization that I can learn new habits. And I can be the person I've always wanted to become.Ready for Take OffBeing with Emily is awesome because she challenges me to get out of my comfort zone and to do things that would be really fun, even though I might not do them on my own. At one point she sent me a bitmoji where she was looking out through the window of an airplane that said "Ready for Take Off." I saved that picture as a reminder to myself that I was. I wasn't sure what was coming, and I wasn't sure exactly where we'd be going. But I was ready for it. We've already had so many different adventures where she challenges me to try new things, (like snowshoeing and rollerblading and yoga, as well as a ton of new food). It's something that I've always wanted to do, but just needed some encouragement to step out. Now it's gotten to the point where I'm looking for new opportunities, and looking forward to encountering new adventures with her. I still don't know exactly where we're going, or even how we're going to get to where we're going. But I'm so excited to go there with Emily. Even if the plans change mid-flight, and we end up somewhere else. I'm ready for take off!

Climbing Meets Basketball: Jaamar's Recap

Our Story

I had a sense even before meeting Jaamar that he was someone I could see myself with long-term. In contrast to other first dates and even former relationships, I never experienced that strong sense of optimism like I did with Jaamar. Prayers for a PartnerIn February of last year, a friend from church invited me to join her and other single women to pray for Christian husbands. I thought it would be a one-time event, but we began praying weekly. I was simultaneously prayer-journaling on my own and by July had grown frustrated, accusing God of being stubborn and whining about failed relationships. God's reply was simple: "Stop. Stop pitying yourself, My beloved. I have a man for you and I will bring you two together in just the right season if you wait just a little bit longer--6 months in fact. That's how long until I bring your waiting and wondering to fruition, to completion and fulfillment in a marriage covenant by My word and power." Coffee Meets BagelIn December, I reactivated an online dating account. It had been a few years since I'd tried online dating and I'd been hesitant to meet people through the internet again after my last relationship with a guy I met online ended with his arrest for domestic violence. A couple of my housemates were simultaneously using a dating app called "Coffee Meets Bagel" and convinced me to join so they could get more "beans", a virtual commodity that enables a variety of features within the app. Within a few days, Jaamar and I connected and began to chat. Looking for More Fans? Jaamar lived in Portland and I thought it was odd we were matched because my settings were for the Seattle area. I could see from his profile pictures that Jaamar lead worship music when I said I'd like to hear him sometime, he directed me to playlists of his albums on Spotify as well as Facebook band pages. I thought, "Great. This guy uses online dating to get more 'likes' on his fan pages." Blogs and HarmonicaBut then I sent him a link to my latest blog post and he not only read it but responded with a LONG, thoughtful reflection and said he would like to read more! Meanwhile I started listening to his albums on Spotify and finally asked the question that had been plaguing me: "I can't help but wonder how a good-looking Christian single guy who plays guitar and leads worship doesn't have 25,000 women after him! :)" Jaamar replied that he was blushing, told me the story behind the song I was listening to and gave me his phone number. Then he said, "25,000 is crazy, but having one very-hot-and-super-interesting-woman-who-writes-blogs-and-plays-harmonica coming after me...now that would be awesome:)" Game changer! I realized then he was interested in ME as more than a fan number. Instant ClickWe chatted back and forth constantly for about a week then began to FaceTime through Facebook Messenger, talking every night for two or three hours. About a week prior to meeting in-person, Jaamar wrote me a lengthy email telling me how he wanted to know everything about me. It was the kind of words most women dream of hearing from a lover, but particularly someone like me who's love language is words of affirmation! When we met in-person, we clicked as well. Jaamar put his arm around my shoulder and it felt natural. I took him adventuring around Seattle to a water tower, green house, Christmas light's display on Candy Cane Lane and my favorite Indian restaurant where I'm friends with the owners who are from Bangladesh (he said it was attractive to hear me chat with them in Bengali). He even got to have dinner with my housemates and meet my best friend! "Love You Forever"New Year's Eve Jaamar gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a poem he had written and told me "I love you." Later that weekend, he said, "I don't just love you; I want to love you forever." The words from my prayer journal six months prior popped in my mind: "6 months...that's how long until I bring your waiting and wondering to fruition, to completion and fulfillment in a marriage covenant by My word and power." A couple weeks later, Jaamar brought up the "M" word: "How soon can we start talking about marriage?" he asked. Normally I would've thought he was crazy, but I recognized that he was a fulfillment of the promise God had spoken of to me in July. Plus, I felt additional peace having discovered a ton of mutual connections with his family and leaders in the church where my office is. Modern GentlemanRecently I told Jaamar he is the "perfect modern gentleman" right after he opened the door for me to drive. He embraces life as much as I do and enjoys trying new things whether that's cooking or rollerblading! Being long-distance, we've both gotten each other to try new methods of communication: he introduced me to a video-messaging app called Marco Polo and I introduced him to using Bitmojis (cartoon-characters to look like yourself) and convinced him to reactivate SnapChat just so our characters could be together! I"m looking forward to taking him on many more world-wide adventures in our upcoming years together :)

I had a sense from the very beginning that Emily wasn't like anyone else I had ever met before. Although she had similarities to what I had thought would be ideal, she just did things differently. And it was very alluring. She is outgoing, but not overbearing. She a thinker and likes strategy games, but doesn't overthink things in a way that prevents her from action...and she doesn't even play chess! She also likes to be active, but prefers climbing a wall to playing basketball. Different. But awesome. And I quickly began to see how God was intertwining our stories. Prayers for a PartnerI've always been praying for my future wife, but in the last year or so it had gotten much more intense. I would journal and ask God when I would finally get to meet 'her' and would often wonder when it would get to the point where I would allow myself to settle for less than God's best just so I could become a husband and eventually a father. I'd felt like I'd tried everything that I knew how to do including online dating, meeting women in bars and even blind dates. Nothing seemed to work. So I kept praying. It was all I had left.Coffee Meets BagelI was watching 'Shark Tank' a couple years ago and saw a pitch for a new dating app. Although the creators didn't get a deal on the show, I remember thinking that it looked much better than other dating sites I'd tried, and so within a couple days I had created a profile. I met a few people in two years, but had gotten to the point where I didn't want to invest any more money into it. But I would go on the app every day and collect the free "beans" that were available, just in case someone caught my eye. Then one random night in December, after I was tired from playing basketball, I saw that I'd gotten a message from Emily. We starting chatting, and within a couple days, I knew I wouldn't need to worry about collecting any more free beans.Looking for more Fans?Meeting people is always tricky. Especially people I've never seen before. There's always this balance of trying to impress people and show them how cool I am, and giving them a reason to be intrigued, while also sounding calm and humble and not coming across as arrogant, or (maybe even worse,) uninteresting. So when Emily asked me about my music, I just figured I would direct her to where she could find out for herself if she liked it, and that way, I wouldn't have to talk about it.Blogs and HarmonicaAround the same time that she was finding out about my music, I was finding out that she played harmonica. This was great news to me and I became really curious. Then I found out that she wrote a blog and just wanted to read everything that she'd written. I knew that reading what she wrote would tell me a LOT about the person she is. It was a way to see what she's really like, and what she really cares about, and I was very interested. So that night I read as many blogs as I could and came away VERY impressed. She was different. And I liked it.Instant ClickAfter a few days of messaging back and forth, I knew I wanted to meet in person. But since that wasn't possible right away, I began sending videos just to try to show her more of who I was. Then one day I saw that she had sent me and old video of her and her friend talking about some crazy adventure they'd gone on. I clicked on it instantly. It was over 11 minutes, but I probably watched it 3 or 4 times that first night. And at that point, before we even met in person, I was convinced that she was awesome, and that I would do everything I could to let her know my thoughts. So the next morning, I woke up at 6 AM on a Saturday and I did what I knew best. I started writing and composed what would eventually become an email that I sent to her, just telling her how I felt and that I wanted to get to know her even more. By the time we actually met in person, the only thing weird about meeting was that it wasn't weird at all! We had such a great time, and it just seemed so natural and easy. Shortly after that, she showed me how to find even more videos of her on Facebook. Each one of them became an instant click. Love You ForeverI had big plans for New Year's Eve, and although I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to pull them all off, or even if I was, the one thing I knew I wanted to do was to tell Emily that I loved her. I know that some people throw around words and phrases very loosely, and even flippantly, but for me this was a big deal. In my mind, once I said those words, I was going to forever live like they were true. New Year's Eve was an amazing night where I learned both how hard it was to make plans with Emily in advance, as well as how fun and exciting it was to go on a spontaneous adventure where my plans meant very little. And soon after that, I felt like I needed to expound on what exactly it was I meant when I told her that I loved her. That was when my preparation collided with improvisation, and I told her that I wanted to love her 'Forever'. I had seen and learned enough. She had captured my heart. And I was ready for forever.Modern Gentleman I remember being a teenager and thinking about the type of person, father and husband I wanted to be someday. I had grown up learning about what it means to be a gentleman and decided to make that my goal. I wanted to be kind and to serve people. Always. No matter what job or status I had. Especially towards my wife. I had an admiration for men when, often from afar, I would see them serve their wife, and open the door for her. So I would practice those behaviors, not just in romantic relationships, but in every relationship. Whenever I could. I would open doors for strangers and prefer others to go ahead of me in line, and try my best to pay attention to those around me to see if I could help in any way. Even while driving, I would teach myself to be aware of my surroundings and try to serve others as much as possible. So when I hear others refer to me as a gentleman, it really is an honor. It's a realization that I can learn new habits. And I can be the person I've always wanted to become.Ready for Take OffBeing with Emily is awesome because she challenges me to get out of my comfort zone and to do things that would be really fun, even though I might not do them on my own. At one point she sent me a bitmoji where she was looking out through the window of an airplane that said "Ready for Take Off." I saved that picture as a reminder to myself that I was. I wasn't sure what was coming, and I wasn't sure exactly where we'd be going. But I was ready for it. We've already had so many different adventures where she challenges me to try new things, (like snowshoeing and rollerblading and yoga, as well as a ton of new food). It's something that I've always wanted to do, but just needed some encouragement to step out. Now it's gotten to the point where I'm looking for new opportunities, and looking forward to encountering new adventures with her. I still don't know exactly where we're going, or even how we're going to get to where we're going. But I'm so excited to go there with Emily. Even if the plans change mid-flight, and we end up somewhere else. I'm ready for take off!

Venue

Ceremony

Our ceremony will be held at the bride's home church in Seattle, <a href="http://www.rainieravenuechurch.org/" target="_blank">Rainier Avenue Church</a>.

Following the ceremony, guests are invited to join us for a picnic-style reception at <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/seward-park" target="_blank">Seward Park</a>, located within a mile from the church (you can even walk or bike there if you're used to alternative forms of transportation!). Play yard games, take a picture in the photo booth and paste it with a note in our guest book or leave a video message. Kids old and young will enjoy a nearby swing set (entire families welcome but no childcare provided). Need a break from the crowd? Take a stroll through one of the park's many trails or saunter down to the lake for a breath-taking view of Mt. Rainier. We're still working on details for the food but dinner and dessert are in order. Plan to stay past dusk to enjoy the ambiance of globe lights and glo-in-the-dark hula hoops!

Details

Photos

When Jaamar asked me who I wanted to officiate our wedding, I said, "If I could have anyone in the world, it would be Ted." "Who's Ted?" Jaamar asked."He was like my adopted dad when I lived in Bangladesh. And you can thank him for my move to the Northwest." "Why don't you ask him?""Because I don't know where in the world he is! It's been several years since we last corresponded.""You should at least try."I figured Ted was overdue for a life update, so I penned him an email, only to have it bounce. Then I sent the email to his wife, but I doubted she checked that account anymore since the last time I had emailed her was 2010 and the account was from an organization she had been with prior to my knowing her in 2006. Next, I searched for Ted on Facebook. Finding someone with his name, I sent him a friend request. However, I wasn't sure if he was the Ted I was looking for since we had no mutual friends. I also couldn't tell if he was currently active on Facebook even if I had found the correct account; Ted wasn't exactly a Facebook-sort-of-guy (side note: later the guy I had sent the friend request to accepted and I learned that he's Ted's son). "I'm praying you guys connect," Jaamar told me. Finally, I had the idea of searching for his daughter Emily. She had been in the age of 7 to 9 when I knew her in Bangladesh and me and her parents referred to her as "Choto Emily" (Bengali for "Little Emily") while I was "Boro Emily" (Bengali for "Big Emily"). I came across her on Facebook, now a beautiful 19-year-old young lady, and felt a surge of emotion. I had forgotten how much her family had meant to me, how close we had been during my early adult  years in South Asia. I sent her a friend request and she accepted. Soon she had passed along her Dad's email address and told me her family was excited to hear of my engagement. I emailed Ted again and this time he replied right away. Last I had known his family still lived in Asia, but through a turn of events he informed me that they currently reside in Colorado. When I said that he was my first choice to officiate our wedding, he replied it would be cool if he could do so and a few weeks later confirmed he could. Ted also informed me that our wedding date, September 2nd, is the same as his!  

Ted Warsavage - Officiant 

Jonathan and I have been friends since we were teenagers. He's been the guy I can count on, lean on, cry on, and just go through life's ups and downs with. He's always been the type of guy who I could go months without seeing and then we talk again and just pick up right where we left off. Him, along with his wife Jamie, are the people I would go to when I needed to vent, or complain, and they are so great at knowing when to give wisdom, practical solutions, or just listen. They are also really good at telling me the truth even when I don't want to hear it. Jonathan is the type of friend to me that I wish everyone could have. He's faithful. I'm so grateful that he's in my life and that I am in his :).

Jonathan Mathew

Prayer and Craigslist brought us together, although I should probably include the Meyer's Briggs as well. Mari and I were housemates my first three years in Seattle where we scarf danced together, jumped in Greenlake, hosted potlucks for our neighbors and began every day with "¡Disfruta tus aventuras!"We've not only enjoyed our adventures of living together, we've also enjoyed traveling with one another. From a rambling road trip to Idaho where we sketched our memories rather than photograph them, to go-with-the-flow cruises down California's highways (alongside our third musketeer otherwise known as Mari's Zimbabwean "grandson"), our travels always rewarded us with crazy tales.Mari is more than an adventure partner though. She's been a constant companion over the past nine years who's encouraged me through life's ups and downs and listened to me when I needed an ear (or someone to send a long-winded email to). Mari is a friend I learned long ago I could tell ANYTHING to and she wouldn't criticize, correct or  share my story with others unless I asked her to. This ENTP is super grateful for the friendship--and stories--created with my ENFP friend, Marigrace!

Mari Becker

Rusty and I met just a few years ago, but we clicked instantly, and I knew right away that he was someone I wanted to be friends with forever. We worked together doing youth ministry, and also got to know each other at a men's group that would meet at 6am:). He was also someone that I could be real and vulnerable with and know that he would continue to believe in me and fight for me and with me. I know that if I ever found myself in a tough spot, he would either help get me out, or jump in with me and start fighting. I appreciate his friendship and also his heart. They're both amazing :) 

Rusty Stevens

Otherwise known as my non-biological twin, Sarah and I have shared numerous adventures that usually involve the outdoors and may occasionally  have included bears. Our escapades also frequently involved random strangers asking as they passed us on mountain trails if we are twins, or "at least sisters?". Once, we convinced a group of newly-acquired friends for an entire evening that we had come from the same womb (the question about how we celebrated our 7th birthday made it hard to hide the truth). Another time we intentionally dressed as twins...although our best costumes were when we dressed like fireworks for Halloween! Our friendship weathered the distance when Sarah moved to Manila to get her Masters degree. Upon returning with her husband Dale (whom I introduced her to!), we resumed our wilderness adventures of camping, hiking and survival classes. These trips created a convoy for conversations about God, global poverty, church, family, relationships and where we're gonna stop for tacos on our drive home. In fact, a video recap of one-such adventure is what convinced Jaamar he must meet me in-person ASAP. 

Sarah Bustad

I met Nick years ago at a poker game and just continued to get to know him better. I also felt like he was great for me because he was good at so many things that I wasn't. So if I ever needed something done, or fixed at my apartment, he would be over right away to help. It was also nice that him and his wife Stephanie moved right across the street:). He's also the guy I would go to and vent to the most when dealing with the mental side of playing poker. He came to be someone I learned to trust and rely on and through all that, we've just shared life together and I'm very grateful that he's involved in our wedding.

Nick Megert

Jelani and I have known each other for many, many years. Our families have known each other, but for whatever reason, Jelani and I just recently started to become close probably in the last three years or so. I mean, we'd known about each other, and even done ministry together, but it's definitely been a slow build. Then this past year I started going to his house every Wednesday and we would talk about life and music and have dinner and just hang out. It was really fun and encouraging and I really grew to appreciate the person that he is and more specifically, the friendship that had been built. I respect him a great deal, and his knowledge and experience in ministry, music and politics have meant a lot to me. He's become one of my closest friends and I'm honored to have him be a part of our wedding.

Jelani Greenidge

"I consider you more than my director; you're also my friend," I told Alicia when I asked her to be a bridesmaid in our wedding.For a woman with a giant personal bubble space, her response astounded me. She hopped from her chair, did a happy dance and gave me a hug! "I feel the same way about you!" she said.Although Alicia and I have been coworkers for nearly four years at Rainier Health &amp; Fitness (RHF), our friendship extends beyond the gym and office. One of the qualities I admire most in Alicia is her faith and devotion to prayer and worship. We have spent countless hours in intercession together. We also traveled together to present workshops at the Christian Community Development Association national conference in Memphis and Los Angeles. Prior to my employment at RHF, I tended to keep my work and personal life separate. But I found with my RHF team not only a fabulous bunch of colleagues, but also friends like Alicia who are some of my favorite people to hang out with outside of work! 

Alicia Haskins

"Enthusiastic prayer warrior" is how I would describe Tyra in three words. Not that a person can be summarized so simply--let alone a life-embracing extrovert who's bubbling over with God's joy.  I'm convinced Tyra's favorite question to get asked is, "Wanna pray?" And does she ever pray! Heaven touches earth when interceding with this one! Even after praying for an hour (or more) and we're about to part ways, Tyra has sincerely asked me--as if she completely forgot what we were just doing--"Can we go pray?" I met Tyra through Urban Impact (UI), the nonprofit that Rainier Health &amp; Fitness is a part of. Tyra has served a variety of roles over the past several years at UI, including both volunteering and teaching at RHF. Last summer I enjoyed traveling with her to LA and co-presenting at the Christian Community Development Association conference. There I experienced her enthusiasm for life spilling into the wee hours of the morning when she would ask me around midnight to join her for a swim or to go get hamburgers.  

Tyra Griffith

I remember when Brook and his family first started going to the same church that I was attending. I knew right away that I wanted to have him join the youth band somehow, but I had no idea that we would become so close. We've gone through so much together in life and in music and ministry.  He's grown from being a student, to being a leader, a colleague, and a friend. Now I lean on him and his musical knowledge and expertise a great deal, and I'm so grateful to have him in my life. We went through the process of making an album together, and mainly through that experience, I got to know him, as well as his wife, Melissa, a great deal. I appreciate them a ton, and I love having them as a part of our wedding, as well as a part of our life :).

Brook Cram

Brady is someone I love having in my life. He often reminds me to have fun and not to worry about setbacks. And it's usually without saying a word. He has such a fun spirit about him that I really appreciate, but I really grew to know him well when we took a road trip together to Fairfield, ID and then back to Seattle before coming home to Portland. It was that week that I grew to respect him so much as a friend and a ministry partner, as well as someone who I knew I always wanted to have in my corner. We compliment each other well, and I love playing, as well as teaching, music with him. He inspires me and I'm honored to call him my friend :).

Brady Cram

Marla is one of the most dependable people I know. When I asked her to be a bridesmaid, she was accompanying me on a ferry trip to scout out a potential wedding venue. She had agreed to join me for the outing, not even knowing she would be a member of our wedding party! Although gym members where we work constantly confuse us due our long, blond hair and tall figures, personality-wise we are pretty much opposite. Marla is a detail-oriented introvert, whereas I'm a big-picture extrovert. We balance each other well though, especially since Marla thinks I'm funny. We first connected outside of work when Marla joined me for indoor bouldering. Our friendship deepened further, however, when she and I plus her housemate squeezed two, day hiking trips into less than 24 hours. The second trip spontaneously evolved during our decent of hike #1 when we determined we could get up the following Monday morning, drive to the mountains, hike to the top and drive back in time for Marla to get to work for her 1:30 PM shift. 

Marla zumFelde

Aside from immediate family, Annalise is the only person I have lived with for five years. During that time, we moved into three different houses, traveled to Canada, Tennessee and Kentucky, won a court case and lived with a combined total of seven other housemates. I met Annalise when I randomly encountered her in the hallway of a church I was visiting. She asked me some typical get-to-know-you questions such as "Where did you move here from?" and I replied, "Bangladesh." "My brother is there right now," she said. "He lives in India." "Is your brother David?"I asked."How do you know that?""We lived together with a local family last summer," I replied. He had mentioned he had a sister who lived in Seattle and I had noticed a resemblance in smiles.Several months later we reconnected over the desire to relocate to south Seattle. Had Annalise not married Don Lathrop last summer, we were on the verge of becoming a Common Law couple (and already getting mail together!). Opposites according to Meyer's Briggs personality types, I learned from Annalise the necessity of alone time for introverts and among other qualities. I appreciate her calm sensibility and honest input into my life.  

Emily & Jaamar

Emily & Jaamar

Registry