Timber River Ranch

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Friday Evening Worship

Sabbath School and Church

Sabbath Lunch

Sabbath Afternoon Hike at Bead Lake

Sabbath Supper

Sharing Time

Ryan: I had known for awhile that I had wanted to propose to Glesni, but I wasn't sure about how to do so. I had been juggling several ideas in my mind but as the date approached when&nbsp;I wanted to propose, it seemed like everything was falling apart. Out of the blue, one of my coworkers mentioned that they knew someone who owned a condo at the local ski resort nearby. I was intrigued to see if I could use it for the proposal, but at the same time, I&nbsp;didn't know if I could actually pull it off on the date I&nbsp;had been planning on. I&nbsp;decided to start to move forward&nbsp;but play it cool in order to avoid raising any suspicions in Glesni's mind. The morning of, nervousness sunk in. Because of the time crunch, I&nbsp;had to not only pull off the proposal but also ask her dad for Glesni's hand in marriage. When I broached the subject, he read my mind and told me I had his blessing before I was even able to get the question out of my mouth. Hurdle number one was crossed.&nbsp; Now on&nbsp;to hurdle number two&mdash;figuring out how to get Glesni on the ski resort without raising her suspicions. She had commitments during the first part of the day, but somehow I needed to persuade her to go skiing that afternoon. Glesni: Friday was a shaping up to be a full and busy day for me with an unexpected trip to town for an interview and all the added stress and mental somersaults related to that. Ryan and I had originally been planning on going skiing for a few hours to use our season passes and get some exercise, but I texted him a couple days before while he was at work telling him we would probably have to postpone our plans because of my interview.&nbsp; Now it was Friday morning and suddenly Ryan was bringing the idea of skiing up again. I had a lot to accomplish, and with it being Friday, time was even more limited, so I told him I&nbsp;just didn't think it was realistic. However, Ryan seemed like he really wanted to go skiing, and I hated to let him down, so I gave it some thought and right before I headed out the door to drive to town, I told him that maybe we could work it out after all once I got back home.&nbsp; Ryan:&nbsp;I had so much to do but so little time. I couldn't believe that she actually acquiesced to going skiing, so I half wondered if she suspected something. As soon as she left the house I turned to her parents and told them that today was the day and as the significance of the words sunk in, three sets of hands were&nbsp;on deck to make this happen. It was a blur but it all came together just as Glesni got back from her interview.&nbsp; Soon we were headed to the slopes with her parents planning to leave shortly afterward to decorate the condo so we would have something special to enjoy once we finished skiing.&nbsp; Glesni: It was one of the wettest days I had ever skied, and I was cold with my mind flooding with thoughts about what needed to still happen that afternoon. However, I tried to focus on the present, and we enjoyed several meaningful conversations while riding the lifts up the mountain in between runs. As the lifts closed for the day, we headed back to the car. Ryan had mentioned that he had a patient who owned a condo up at the resort who had offered to do some advertising for his PT office and that he wanted to drop off a few promotional flyers on our way back down the mountain. I agreed with the stipulation that we make our visit brief with the quickly advancing sunset.&nbsp; Ryan: We started our trek to the condo with my mind still swirling with thoughts of what to say once we walked in the door. After searching for the condo for several minutes, I came to the realization that I had no clue where this condo was exactly along the road. Glesni suggested that I text the owner to gain more specific directions little knowing that I didn't have the owner's direction contact information. The only people who would know where the condo was immediately were those who had just minutes before finished their decorating duties&mdash;her parents.&nbsp; Slyly, I texted her mom asking for more specific directions and thankfully she responded without Glesni seeing. Pulling up Maps on my phone, I was able to locate the condo. Glesni reached over and took my phone with the map open in order to direct me while I drove. My heart started beating faster. What if her parents texted me back while she was holding my phone? My cover would be blown. Just as we pulled into the parking lot of the condo and she was handing me my phone, her mom texted again. I almost prevented Glesni from seeing the text, but her eyes were too quick and she saw the name and part of the text preview at the top of my screen. When she started to ask me how her mom knew we were stopping at the condo, I almost had a heart attack.&nbsp;I shrugged my shoulders and made a hasty exit of the vehicle under the pretense of checking the location. Surely she had detected my plan but at this point there was no turning back. Glesni: I found it a bit bizarre that my mom not only knew we were stopping at this condo, but also knew the name of it (since that was the part of the text I had seen), but my head was so full of other things, that I really didn't give it serious thought. I was under the impression when Ryan left the car that he was dropping the flyers off and would be back shortly. I warmed my hands in front of the car heater&nbsp;and waited. He returned however and said that although he had confirmed it was the correct location, he had not delivered the flyers and requested that I join him. I was, admittedly, hesitant to accompany him because I was just warming up, and also was worried that we would get stuck visiting and not get home before Sabbath, but I agreed, again stipulating the necessity for a brief visit. When we approached the door, Ryan knocked with no response. I thought it was a bit weird since the owner was apparently home. He knocked again. No answer. Then Ryan just grabbed the&nbsp;knob and swung the door open. I was aghast. You don't just open a stranger's door. What was he thinking? Because I was standing further back, I couldn't actually see past Ryan and into the condo. I remained glued to the spot, internally refusing to go a step further until the owner appeared. Ryan looked back and me and&nbsp;pleaded with me to just come inside. Gingerly I&nbsp;stepped forward until I could see inside. Christmas lights and candles. They decorate like I do, I&nbsp;thought. Then it all dawned on me as I started noticing heart-shaped candles set tastefully around the room with accompanying heart-shaped scones on the table. Ryan: In that moment, all my words escaped me. Leading up to this point, I knew I couldn't overthink things lest I started acting differently and gave it all away. With my heart beating faster as my cover was almost blown via the text, and my heart beating still faster as I walked with her and approached the door to the condo knowing what lay inside, everything I had planned to say evaporated. Thankfully I didn't forget to drop to one knee and at least say the four most important words&mdash;will you marry me?&nbsp; Glesni: As the realization of what was about to happen started sinking in, my mind was literally going a million miles a minute. Was I ready for this?&nbsp;I had already come to peace about this decision in the days leading up to this, but the finality and serious nature of this life long decision left me reeling once more. As he asked that important question, I managed to say a quiet yes, but remained rather shocked, taking it all in, for quite some time.&nbsp; Ryan: We spent the moments following on the couch sharing memories and letting it all sink in as we leafed through a special book I had made for her encapsulating pictures and thoughts from the entirety of our relationship. Our journey together up to this point had contained many bumps and curves, but I had never felt so much at peace as I did in that moment knowing that we were in the center of God's will, about to embark on the journey of a lifetime with my best friend. And that adventure is just beginning...

The Proposal

Our Story

Our Journey

Ryan:&nbsp;Our love story is not the typical. It’s the love story that reminds me that we serve an individualistic God. Yes, there were standards that were followed, but the end result of following God’s still, small voice was a journey which neither of us could have dreamed&nbsp;of in the beginning.&nbsp;





In many ways our journey was a journey that neither of us would want to repeat but neither of us would change (other than submitting my weak, un-Christ like self to God earlier on) because it grew us in so many ways. Our relationship, our path, forced us higher and drove us to pursue God more.&nbsp;

























We first met on a mission trip to Honduras in 2009. I don’t remember much about Glesni from that trip other than being impressed by the caliber of my female peers who went on the trip. Their spirituality and emanating purity raised the bar in my mind about the woman&nbsp;I would want to end up with.&nbsp;

























Our lives really didn’t cross paths again until I saw Glesni&nbsp;on stage at GYC&nbsp;(a Christian conference) in Phoenix. At the time she was in charge of logistics&mdash;a position which I highly respected secondary to the often thankless work it involved. As her title flashed across the screens I decided to text and thank het&nbsp;for the work that she was doing. She politely responded&mdash;and with that our journey began.















Glesni: I honestly don't remember much about Ryan from our first encounter either, and when he texted me out of the blue, I thought it was a nice gesture and responded accordingly. As we caught up on life and what the other was pursuing at that point, the thought crossed my mind that he seemed like a nice guy. But I was adamant that I was not ready for a relationship, and in fact, I would ensure that no interest was sparked by taking a minimum of three weeks to respond to any text.













Ryan:&nbsp;After the first several texts,&nbsp;I didn't know whether Glesni's life was so busy that perhaps she didn't have time for texting or if something else was going on, so I played the game as well and&nbsp;waited at least three weeks to respond back. My curiosity was piqued, however. Even though our texting continued this way for awhile, I appreciated how our texts&nbsp;focused on Christ and encouraging each other. Our communication remained&nbsp;occasional&nbsp;for the next seven or eight months until both of us started our intense school programs&mdash;I was starting my physical therapy program, and Glesni was starting her nursing program. As we delved into our studies, we started texting more frequently, asking for prayer and sending encouraging texts. Around October,&nbsp;I realized we needed more clarity but was waiting for Glesni's family to finish a move between houses before broaching the subject.













Glesni:&nbsp;As our communication frequency increased, I began to have more questions and thoughts about Ryan. I didn't know if he texted all girls like he texted me, or whether he was thinking of a more intentional friendship. After talking with my parents and praying about it, I decided I&nbsp;needed to have that "define the relationship" conversation. Amidst moving boxes, I composed an email and sent it off with much prayer not knowing the outcome.&nbsp;













Ryan:&nbsp;The morning that Glesni was composing her email, I had just brought up our texting history&nbsp;with my parents and shared with them my thoughts concerning our friendship and the potential of it becoming something more. I&nbsp;had been wrestling in my mind about wanting to have the "something more" dialogue with her, but also not wanting to kill our friendship since I knew it would change the way we texted&mdash;especially if she wasn't interested at all. After my conversation with my folks, I&nbsp;spent time in prayer pleading for wisdom regarding the future and what to do. I also felt a strong&nbsp;burden to pray, so I&nbsp;started praying for those on the top of my prayer list&mdash;especially Glesni. Little did I know that she was writing an email to me at the exact same moment.











Glesni: The time that&nbsp;ensued before Ryan's response felt a lot longer than it actually was, and I was happily surprised when he emailed and told me that he had been planning to talk with my parents about exploring a relationship together, and had just been waiting for us to finish our move between houses. And thus began our relational journey...







Ryan: Because we hadn't really spent any time together since the mission trip, we decided it would be best if I went and visited their family over Thanksgiving. My initial impressions were positive, limited and rushed, but my curiosity continued to move me forward.&nbsp;







Glesni: After Ryan visited, we continued texting and occasionally talking on the phone before both arriving at GYC&nbsp;in Louisville. I had asked Ryan to be my assistant during the conference, but really didn't want our exploratory&nbsp;friendship&nbsp;to be public knowledge at that point since we had only just started talking and spending time in person. This, however, caused for several awkward moments and also left Ryan a bit confused at my behavior&nbsp;at times.&nbsp;







Ryan: At the end of the conference&nbsp;I remember finding an empty room and pouring out my soul to God in prayer. I didn't know if Glesni was interacting with me like she was because she was contemplating stepping back from our friendship or whether something else was going on. As I was praying, her mom texted me and said that she would like to share something with me in person. Was this going to be a motherly "softening the blow" kind of conversation? I submitted the entire dilemma to God and felt his peace overwhelm me knowing that He held everything in His hands. The next morning I was able to meet with her mom and my fears were relieved as she shared that the reason Glesni was acting the way she was came largely from the stress of GYC and not having time to process everything regarding our friendship.&nbsp;







Glesni: Because of our busy school schedules, the next time we had to interact, besides a short weekend at a wedding,&nbsp;was during my spring break when I flew to Michigan to spend time with Ryan. Although he still had classes, we were able to carve out time together for visiting my grandparents, picking blueberries and taking a picnic supper to the beach. We were definitely newbies in the relationship business and overly structured the visit with formal&nbsp;"question sessions" (which we later realized greatly inhibited any chance for us to bond emotionally and just&nbsp;enjoy the journey).&nbsp;&nbsp;Just as I was starting to feel more peaceful about potentially moving into a deeper relationship&nbsp;we encountered several challenging discussions and revelations which resulted in an atmosphere of tension as I departed to head home. My mind was spinning as I attempted to process everything, yet I wanted to still attempt to keep the communication channel open.







Ryan:&nbsp;After Glesni left, our communication frequency decreased but eventually we were able to work through quite a bit. Knowing that we hadn't spent too much time together, my parents and I made a weekend visit en route to an Alaskan&nbsp;vacation during one of my breaks. It was nice to spend time walking along the lakeshore while we talked and were able to process things to a greater extent from our previous time together.





Glesni: Although I was still unsure of our&nbsp;future together relationally, connecting again in person over the weekend was a positive thing. I was nervously looking forward to spending a week and a half in&nbsp;Alaska with&nbsp;Ryan and his parents later that summer and didn't know what our time together would hold. I continued praying for wisdom to know how to move forward.





Ryan: We made lots of special memories in Alaska from watching bears catching fish to riding a hand-propelled cable car and taking in the beautiful sights of the Kenai Peninsula.&nbsp;During the entire time&nbsp;I was thinking and praying about our relationship. At one point I&nbsp;even wrote down&nbsp;a "pros and cons" list and was&nbsp;reminded that the pros of continuing our relationship outweighed several questions I had in my mind at that time.&nbsp;





Glesni: We flew back from Alaska to Michigan together and spent&nbsp;another week there while Ryan started back into his busy PT class schedule although we managed to squeeze in a backpacking weekend with my cousin, Kari!&nbsp;A couple weeks afterward, I was back in Michigan again, this time with my family for my cousin&nbsp;Beth's wedding and invited Ryan to attend as well.





Ryan: That wedding weekend held more ups and downs&mdash;this time more in relation to the questions I had in my head. There was so much I had grown to appreciate about&nbsp;Glesni, even in our limited interactions. Still, there was this pit in my stomach&mdash;a feeling that I couldn't recognize until I&nbsp;looked back afterwards and saw God leading us out of a relationship just as clearly as He had lead us into one.





Glesni: Beth's wedding&nbsp;weekend was difficult for me as I was trying to process so many&nbsp;&nbsp;thoughts and emotions. After lots of prayer and discussion with my parents, I&nbsp;decided to send Ryan an&nbsp;email on our drive back across the country to Idaho that ultimately lead to our breakup. However, we were able to have a phone call a couple days later to help answer questions and leave things on the best possible note.&nbsp;





Ryan: The&nbsp;time surrounding our breakup&nbsp;was hard for both of us but even through that experience I saw Glesni's maturity and godly wisdom. I knew I could trust God through this time, and His presence made it so much easier than it otherwise would have been. I&nbsp;also realized that being single&nbsp;was a gift to invest the time that relationships take&nbsp;to&nbsp;serve God&nbsp;in other ways; yes the breakup&nbsp;was hard but I&nbsp;couldn't&nbsp;complain&nbsp;as God gave me&nbsp;light in the darkness.





Glesni: Fast forward ten months later and both of us had been on separate journeys seeking to discover God's will for our lives. I had explored another relationship and Ryan was also contemplating other options. Both of us experienced tremendous growth spiritually and just generally as we continued to mature. Looking back on that time, I don't regret for a minute how God lead us apart because we both needed it to become more rooted and grounded in who we were as individuals.&nbsp;





Ryan: That&nbsp;time apart allowed us to come back together with a&nbsp;healthier&nbsp;and more&nbsp;balanced outlook concerning our relationship, but I'm getting ahead of myself. During our time apart I had never fully crossed Glesni off my mind&mdash;rather our&nbsp;time apart led to&nbsp;her becoming a background thought as I contemplated&nbsp;others.





Glesni: I hadn't completely closed the door to the idea of a second&nbsp;relationship with Ryan in my mind. Our time apart had led me to appreciate more of his personality and character traits and after various circumstances and encouragement from my parents,&nbsp;I&nbsp;decided to email Ryan&nbsp;to request that we&nbsp;clarify and process through a few things still lingering from our previous relationship and hinted that I would be open to the thought of exploring something together&nbsp;again.&nbsp;





Ryan: I knew there was a mission trip to Haiti&nbsp;coming up that we both would be participating in and figured it would be good to start a little dialogue since Glesni's email made me rethink that possibility of something happening&nbsp;between us. I knew there would be things to work through, but I also knew that she was a true gem and didn't want to close the door until I knew for certain that she wasn't the gem for me.&nbsp;





We definitely sought to be intentional on the mission trip and by the end of those two weeks, I&nbsp;became increasingly excited at the thought of getting back into a relationship with Glesni. Thankfully, shortly after the mission trip ended, I was able to stop by her house in Idaho on the way to one of my clinical placements. While there, God very clearly led us back into a relationship.





Glesni: Over the next several months we were very intentional in visiting each other and spending more time together. We realized that our prior relationship had lacked in the area of quality time that was so important to deepening&nbsp;our friendship romantically, and so we prioritized this as much as we could while still being long distance. From visiting Ryan in Reno at one of his clinical assignments, to spending time in&nbsp;Tennessee during another clinical, to capitalizing on&nbsp;trips planned for other reasons, we managed to see each other basically&nbsp;once a month until Ryan came out for his third clinical placement out in Idaho. I still had many questions and was struggling to know whether this relationship was God's will for my future, but I kept praying that He would make His will clear. And I knew this concentrated time together&nbsp;could be the real test...





Ryan: With how drawn out our relationship appeared to some, I knew that both of us were seeking clarity while also wanting to be fair to the other person. In my ideal world, I was hoping that we would find that clarity quickly and I would be able to propose to her shortly after that clinical in Idaho. But God had other plans... That time together was the most positive extended interaction we had experienced and I kept seeing lots of potential and small glimmers of God's leading, and all of the&nbsp;moments of uncertainty made us have to turn to God more. As nice as it would have been to know God's will for the future immediately, He used these experiences to draw us both closer to Him.&nbsp;





Glesni: Our time together those two months definitely felt the most promising as I contemplated our future and whether God was leading us together. However, our months apart that followed&nbsp;allowing for limited time together&nbsp;caused more uncertainty in my mind. I was earnestly praying for God to make things absolutely clear since I knew we couldn't just continue in relational limbo much longer, but that clarity seemed slow in coming. I just couldn't seem to find peace in either solution which was extremely frustrating to me as&nbsp;I sought to try to communicate my confusing&nbsp;thoughts and feelings to Ryan. I almost broke up with him again several times, but counsel from my parents and others that I trusted led me back to trying to work through things again and again.&nbsp;





Ryan: I could have been very frustrated at this point but it wasn't like everyday was a cloudy one. Furthermore&nbsp;every time I journaled and submitted it&nbsp;to God it seemed as if He was telling me to continue forward&mdash;whether it was for continued personal growth or to marry Glesni I&nbsp;didn't fully know&mdash;I simply trusted in God.&nbsp;

I had been planning to move to Idaho and start my first job as a licensed physical therapist, and even though I&nbsp;knew that things were uncertain, I knew that God had clearly opened this job opportunity for me and trusted that even if we did break up, God wanted me to be out in Idaho. I still had my hopes as I knew that a lot of Glesni's uncertainties&nbsp;and the limitations of our relationship rested in the fact that she hadn't fully decided in her mind to move forward. I trusted&nbsp;others&nbsp;&nbsp;who knew her best that once she made up her mind on something she would be 100% committed. I just continued to pray and wait with excitement to see how God would lead one way or the other (although I hoped He would lead towards things working out!)





Glesni: It was fairly stressful at the time having Ryan move out to Idaho with all the uncertainty still in my mind. I didn't want to feel obligated to make a decision one way or the other just because he was out here, but I also felt a bit guilty knowing that one of the main reasons he moved to Idaho was because of me. I continued earnestly seeking for God's wisdom to know how to move forward. It was definitely a slow journey, but I gradually started to feel increasing peace about our relationship, despite the ups and downs along the way. And I am so thankful to my parents and close friends who supported me through that difficult journey.&nbsp;





Ryan: It was wonderful to see that Glesni was experiencing&nbsp;growing peace and joy in our relationship. I&nbsp;couldn't help but fall more in love with her&nbsp;as the weeks marched on out in Idaho.&nbsp;The ups and downs of our relational&nbsp;journey showed me that no matter what the future might bring, we could face it together with God at our forefront. He had lead in very clear ways and worked so many miracles to bring us&nbsp;to this point that I knew He would continue to guide us as we sought to follow His will, and I was excited to enter a new phase of our relationship!&nbsp;I sensed that we were ready to take the next step...

Ryan: I had known for awhile that I had wanted to propose to Glesni, but I wasn't sure about how to do so. I had been juggling several ideas in my mind but as the date approached when I wanted to propose, it seemed like everything was falling apart. Once again I poured out my soul to God desperately wanting His will to be done even if it wasn't for us to move forward, and in&nbsp;that exact&nbsp;moment of submitting to Him one of my coworkers texted&nbsp;that they knew someone who owned a condo at the local ski resort nearby that I could use. Was this God?&nbsp;I was intrigued to see if I could use it for the proposal, but at the same time, I didn't know if I could actually pull it off on the date I had been planning on secondary to responsibilities that Glesni had on that day. I decided to start to move forward but play it cool in order to avoid raising any suspicions in Glesni's mind.

The morning of&nbsp;nervousness sunk in. Because of the time crunch&nbsp;I had to not only pull off the proposal but also ask her dad for Glesni's hand in marriage. When I broached the subject, he read my mind and told me I had his blessing before I was even able to get the question out of my mouth. Hurdle number one was crossed!







Now on to hurdle number two&mdash;figuring out how to get Glesni on the ski resort without raising her suspicions.







Glesni: Friday was shaping up to be a full and busy day for me with an unexpected trip to town for an interview and all the added stress and mental somersaults related to that. Ryan and I had originally been planning on going skiing for a few hours to use our season passes and get some exercise, but I texted him a couple days before while he was at work telling him we would probably have to postpone our plans because of my interview.&nbsp;







Now it was Friday morning and suddenly Ryan was bringing the idea of skiing up again. I had a lot to accomplish, and with it being Friday, time was even more limited&nbsp;so I told him I just didn't think it was realistic. However, Ryan seemed like he really wanted to go skiing.&nbsp;I hated to let him down, so I gave it some thought and right before I headed out the door to drive to town&nbsp;I told him that maybe we could work it out after all once I got back home.&nbsp;







Ryan: I had so much to do but so little time!&nbsp;I couldn't believe that she actually acquiesced to going skiing;&nbsp;I half wondered if she suspected something. As soon as she left the house I turned to her parents and told them that today was the day and as the significance of the words sunk in, three sets of hands were on deck to make this happen. It was a blur but it all came together just as Glesni got back from her interview.&nbsp;







Soon we were headed to the slopes with her parents planning to leave shortly afterward to decorate the condo so we would have something special to enjoy once we finished skiing.&nbsp;







Glesni: It was one of the wettest days I had ever skied, and I was cold with my mind flooding with thoughts about what needed to still happen that afternoon. However, I tried to focus on the present, and we enjoyed several meaningful conversations while riding the lifts up the mountain in between runs. As the lifts closed for the day&nbsp;we headed back to the car. Ryan had mentioned that he had a patient who owned a condo up at the resort who had offered to do some advertising for his PT office and that he wanted to drop off a few promotional flyers on our way back down the mountain. I agreed with the stipulation that we make our visit brief with the quickly advancing sunset.&nbsp;







Ryan: We started our trek to the condo with my mind still swirling with thoughts of what to say once we walked in the door. I had been downplaying the&nbsp;nervousness in my mind all day because I knew that if I overthought it she would notice something was up with her gift of intuition. Now, though, it was sinking in making it hard to keep my calm. To further feed the fire after searching for the condo for several minutes&nbsp;I came to the realization that I had no clue where this condo was exactly along the road. Glesni suggested that I text the owner to gain more specific directions little knowing that I didn't have the owner's direct&nbsp;contact information. The only people who would know where the condo was immediately were those who had just minutes before finished their decorating duties&mdash;her parents.&nbsp;







Slyly, I texted her mom asking for more specific directions and thankfully she responded without Glesni seeing. Pulling up Maps on my phone, I was able to locate the condo. Glesni reached over and took my phone with the map open in order to direct me while I drove. My heart started beating faster. What if her parents texted me again&nbsp;while she was holding my phone? My cover would be blown. Just as we pulled into the parking lot of the condo and she was handing me my phone, her mom texted again. I almost prevented Glesni from seeing the text, but her eyes were too quick and she saw the name and part of the text preview at the top of my screen. When she started to ask me how her mom knew we were stopping at the condo, I almost had a heart attack. I shrugged my shoulders and made a hasty exit of the vehicle under the pretense of checking the location. Surely she had detected my plan but at this point there was no turning back.







Glesni: I found it a bit bizarre that my mom not only knew we were stopping at this condo, but also knew the name of it (since that was the part of the text I had seen), but my head was so full of other things, that I really didn't give it serious thought. I was under the impression when Ryan left the car that he was dropping the flyers off and would be back shortly. I warmed my hands in front of the car heater and waited. He returned however and said that although he had confirmed it was the correct location, he had not delivered the flyers and requested that I join him to meet the owner as he was a guy who would like to teach us advanced skiing sometime (all parts of Ryan's fable were true to some extent&mdash;just not all of it was true today! I definitely bought the story though).&nbsp;Admittedly I was&nbsp;hesitant to accompany him because I was just warming up, and also was&nbsp;worried that we would get stuck visiting and not get home before Sabbath. As long as it was going to be brief I agreed to meet the owner.







When we approached the door, Ryan knocked with no response. I thought it was a bit weird since he had implied the owner was&nbsp;home. He knocked again. No answer. Then Ryan just grabbed the knob and swung the door open. I was aghast. You don't just open a stranger's door. What was he thinking? Because I was standing further back, I couldn't actually see past Ryan and into the condo. I remained glued to the spot, internally refusing to go a step further until the owner appeared. Ryan looked back and pleaded with me to just come inside. Gingerly I stepped forward until I could see inside. Christmas lights and candles. They decorate like I do, I thought. Then it all dawned on me as I started noticing heart-shaped candles set tastefully around the room with accompanying heart-shaped scones on the table.







Ryan: With my heart beating faster as my cover was almost blown via the text, and my heart beating still faster as I walked with her and approached the door to the condo knowing what lay inside, everything I had planned to say evaporated. Thankfully I didn't forget to drop to one knee and at least say the four most important words&mdash;will you marry me?&nbsp;







Glesni: As the realization of what was about to happen started sinking in, my mind was literally going a million miles a minute. Was I ready for this? I had already come to peace about this decision in the days leading up to this, but the finality and serious nature of this life long decision left me reeling once more. As he asked that important question, I managed to say a quiet yes, but remained rather shocked, taking it all in, for quite some time.&nbsp;







Ryan: We spent the moments following on the couch sharing memories and letting it all sink in as we leafed through a special book I had made for her encapsulating pictures and thoughts from the entirety of our relationship. Our journey together up to this point had contained many bumps and curves, but I had never felt so much at peace as I did in that moment knowing that we were in the center of God's will, about to embark on the journey of a lifetime with my best friend. And that adventure is just beginning...

Our Story 1

Our Wedding

Photos

Details

Registry

As I grew&nbsp;up my brother Matt was my adventure pal&mdash;we spent countless hours playing, exploring, and doing pretty much everything together&nbsp;(he doing&nbsp;the things I&nbsp;suggested&mdash;sometimes to his detriment). We've shared a deep friendship as brothers and I'm excited that he will be by my side come July 28 :)

Matthew Neall

I'm not even sure where to start in describing my wonderful sister... Being four years younger than me, she&nbsp;experienced her fair share of "mothering" in our early&nbsp;years, but as we have both entered our twenties, we have bonded&nbsp;closely and I&nbsp;absolutely treasure her friendship! She consistently challenges me to push outside of my comfort zones whether scaling rock walls or&nbsp;climbing mountains. Her energy and constant hilarious chatter&nbsp;keeps a smile on my face. I couldn't be more excited to have her stand beside me as my amazing maid of honor!&nbsp;

Kiera Mason

Kirsten and I first met over ten years ago and have since shared many&nbsp;memories together, from mission experiences to a love of photography, flowers and basically&nbsp;anything creative! (She's also Ryan's second cousin which is a fun additional fact since we'll get to be&nbsp;family!)&nbsp;Kirsten has been a great encouragement along my relationship journey and provided some good advice and counsel from the perspective of a married friend. I'm thankful for her and can't wait to have her with me on our special day!&nbsp;

Kirsten Knecht

Jason has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Having an older brother is a mixed&nbsp;blessing&mdash;he was&nbsp;someone who always took the blame when we were in trouble&nbsp;and someone from whom I inherited&nbsp;lots of hand-me-downs! More than that, though, he taught me&nbsp;to embrace life and enjoy the simple things. I'm glad he will get to stand with me&nbsp;and share in my simple yet&nbsp;wonderful joy of marrying my best friend.

Jason Neall

There's so much I&nbsp;could say about DeWayne. We first met at Southern when we were paired to be outreach partners in an evangelism&nbsp;training program&mdash;and from there our friendship took off!&nbsp;Through spending countless hours driving with him to hanging out and talking about everything under the sun, we formed a deep bond. He's the friend who taught me&nbsp;how to be a gentleman, laugh&nbsp;at the small things, and I know he would drop anything to be there for me if I needed it. My life is better because he has been in it‚&nbsp;and my wedding will be enriched because he is a part of my special day.

DeWayne Neidigh

There are many things about Ashley that I appreciate, from her cheerful smile, to the way she is always pushing herself to become better, but most of all for the beautiful heart she has and the wonderful friend she is to me. We've shared many long conversations about all areas of life and made lots of&nbsp;memories together, and I'm&nbsp;looking forward to making more&nbsp;on my&nbsp;wedding day!

Ashley Brown

I have known Andrew for over three&nbsp;years in a variety of settings&mdash;from visiting his house and seeing how he lives and interacts with his family, working with him on cars, playing board games,&nbsp;shooting an occasional gun&nbsp;with him, attending&nbsp;the church he attends on a weekly basis and&nbsp;listening to him play the cello, and having him shadow me at work as a physical therapist. He's been the brother who has grilled my&nbsp;fiancée about me when we were first starting to know each other, has (thankfully) given me the approval&nbsp;to marry his sister, and has brought lots of joy and laughter&nbsp;into our relationship with&nbsp;his good-natured humor. I could not be more blessed to have him standing up with me&nbsp;as the brother of the bride and&nbsp;a personal&nbsp;friend.&nbsp;

Andrew Mason

From our first real conversation while stirring giant quantities of spaghetti during another wedding weekend, I knew Aubrey was someone who had big ideas and who could push me and grow me if we became better friends. Fast forward 8 years later, and she has become one of my closest friends, despite all the times that we've clashed in opinions and ways of thinking along our friendship journey.&nbsp;Our time together in GYC has definitely bonded us in ways that I will remember and appreciate forever! I'm so thankful she's agreed to be my bridesmaid!

Aubrey Seiler

When I&nbsp;met Isaiah during my schooling at&nbsp;Andrews, I immediately recognized a kindred spirit&mdash;not only do we share a similar love of music and adventure, but we&nbsp;also share the same&nbsp;Myers-Briggs personality type!&nbsp;His love for&nbsp;God, deep desire to follow Him wherever He leads,&nbsp;and&nbsp;life of authentic&nbsp;down-to-earth&nbsp;Christianity&nbsp;has permeated our friendship and has been a highlight of our interactions. I am so&nbsp;glad he said yes to be a part of my&nbsp;wedding!

Isaiah Bonson

I first met Hannah at the same time that I met Ryan&mdash;our mission trip to Honduras in January&nbsp;2009.&nbsp;Little did I dream that 10 years later, we'd be close friends and I'd be&nbsp;marrying her cousin! We both share many common interests&nbsp;from missions to music, and it's always fun to swap nursing stories from our crazy jobs! I can't wait to become part of the family and get to look back and tell many more stories of our times together in the future!

Hannah Powell

Jake was another person I got to know during my time at Andrews, but for some reason it feels like I've known him my whole life. We easily&nbsp;slip into talking about deep things, enjoy laughter and life together when our paths cross, and pick up where we left off as if we had just seen each other even if it has been weeks or months since we have chatted. He almost couldn't believe it when I&nbsp;asked him to be in my wedding&mdash;but I&nbsp;wouldn't have it any other way!

Jacob Eagan

Abby and I have been friends almost as long as I remember. From our first meeting while playing in Rangeline Park at a homeschool event when we were 6 and 7, we've shared countless experiences and had innumerable long conversations about relationships and life in general. The craziest part is that now we're going to be&nbsp;related since her husband, Jonathan, and Ryan are second cousins! I can't wait to have her by my side on July 28!

Abigail Dysinger

A youth Bible camp was my first introduction to Tanner; initial impressions of him were a good-natured man who enjoyed photography, God, and believed in a flat earth (he had some good points and we&nbsp;kids almost believed him). Fast forward several years, rooming together at Andrews, and a couple double dates&nbsp;and my impressions of him became&nbsp;more flushed out: he's a birder, a&nbsp;theologian, a pun king, a musician,&nbsp;a great friend, and so much more. For a moment I&nbsp;tried to think up&nbsp;a pun to bring a smile to his face, but in this limited space I knew&nbsp;I couldn't steal his punny base. Still this&nbsp;poem shows&nbsp;the case:&nbsp;for&nbsp;his friendship he&nbsp;deserves&nbsp;a&nbsp;closer place&nbsp;to see my woman in lace!

Tanner Martin

Over the past years I've come to find in Stephanie a wonderful&nbsp;friend with many shared&nbsp;interests including all things Commonwealth, writing and music. We've had fun cooking adventures, and have also&nbsp;made many memories in blustery conditions both here in the United States and also in Australia!&nbsp;I'm looking forward to having her living closer to me once she gets married and the double couple dates in the&nbsp;future!

Stephanie Fox

Wedding Party

Q + A

20 minutes from wedding venue

Single&nbsp;Queen $89.99, Single King $95, Double Queens $99.99



Limited Availability

Ask for rooms reserved for Glesni Mason when calling front desk.

Eagle's Nest Motel

56 minutes from wedding venue

Rooms with&nbsp;2 queen beds and a sleeper sofa with&nbsp;breakfast, wifi and parking included for&nbsp;$139.99.&nbsp;



Request for rooms reserved for the Mason-Neall Wedding when calling to reserve.



All rooms under our room block will be automatically released on June 25 if unbooked, so please book prior to that date!

La Quinta by Wyndham Spokane North

1 hour 10 minutes&nbsp;from wedding venue Option 1: 1 queen bed and recliner with kitchenette, $96.99 Option 2: 2 queen beds with kitchenette, $96.99 Kitchenette includes full-size refrigerator, two burner cooktop, toaster and coffee maker. Free wifi and free parking. Continental breakfast not&nbsp;included.&nbsp; Request for rooms reserved for the Mason-Neall Wedding when calling to reserve. All rooms under our room block will be automatically released on June 26&nbsp;if unbooked, so please book prior to that date!

My Place Hotel

10 minutes from wedding venue

$10/night, availability is first come first serve

Pend Oreille County Park

17 minutes from wedding venue$18/night, availability to reserve ahead

Pioneer Park Campground

32 minutes from wedding venue

Campsites, RV sites and cabinsInfo: 509-447-4813

Glesni & Ryan