Our story began back at the very first summer camp our church hosted: Staycation 2020. During camp, Josiah liked Isabella because of her genuineness in our breakout groups. He noticed how sweet and kind she was and knew he wanted to get to know her more. Soon after camp, he slid into her DMs and we started talking over Instagram and text. But since Josiah was too shy to approach Isabella at youth group on Tuesdays (she was a little intimidating—Josiah), the conversations eventually fizzled out, and for over a year we left it at that.

This is where things get interesting. Fast forward to our senior year of high school—Josiah was homeschooled and Isabella was in public school. Because of COVID, Isabella was never able to attend any school dances, so she decided to invite Josiah to her senior homecoming. Of course, he said yes! Keep in mind—we hardly knew each other at this point! But everything went smoothly, and off we went to the Seminole High School homecoming dance.

We didn’t stay long at the dance itself, but afterwards we joined some friends—Elizabeth, Hunter, and Addison—and went to Universal CityWalk to enjoy the rest of the night. Since everyone drove separately, those long car rides gave us the chance to really talk and get to know each other better.

Eight days later on Halloween, we officially started dating. And the rest is history.