It was the first day of 1st grade. I was getting adjusted to a new school and there down the hallway walked the prettiest girl I had ever laid eyes on in my 6 years of life. She walked by my classroom to the one across the hall, and this same theme carried on for the next 12 years. Close, but never together. Throughout Middle School our friendship began to grow because of going to the same youth group, retreats, similar classes, and being on Stuco together. By the end of Middle School, I truly developed a crush on her.

That continued into Freshmen year of High School where I graciously had bought her a bluetooth adapter for her birthday, so she could listen to music in her car! I asked her to Homecoming, and after the night I thought we for sure felt the same way. Sadly, she did not pick up on all of the signals I was dropping. I found that out when I asked her out a couple of weeks later and she said no. Sophomore year rolled around and I decided to give it another try. I decided no birthday gifts this time, and to try a more casual route. Again, I thought the feelings were mutual, and asked her out. She did not feel the same way and actually started dating another guy shortly after me asking her (very embarrassing for me). If my parents taught me one thing it was persistence, so my Junior year I decided to ask her out again. Once again, I was left alone and questioning if I would ever find love. After my third strike, I did not try again in High School- I didn't want to go 0-4. However, something else major did happen in High School. I had decided to go to UMKC, and very shortly after Emma decided to go there too. A little suspicious if you ask me.

I pulled into the parking garage at UMKC only really knowing 2 people on campus, Emma and her friend Grace. This caused Emma and I to hangout a lot because we really only knew each other. I would try and make my roommates hangout with her roommates so I would have an excuse to hangout with her. Eventually, there was a core group of about 6 to 8 of us that would pretty consistently hangout. It was through these hangouts and us driving to church together that we got closer. A couple of months into school I really felt that Emma was putting off the same flirtatious vibe that I was, so on October 1st, 2021 I decided to try my luck again. I asked her out and she, finally, said "Yes!" From there, we went through a lot together. We rededicated our lives to Christ and truly started living for Him, we worked at the Woods together for 3 summers, we grew so much in our faith because of our relationship, and pushed each other to be more like Jesus each and every day. Almost 16 years after seeing her for the first time, 1st grade Jordan finally got to ask the most beautiful, kind, and amazing woman in the world to marry him on September 28th, 2024. Even if she says so, I am not fully convinced she's "always liked me", but no matter how she felt in the past I know she will always love me now.

Overall, God has undoubtedly had his hand in our relationship from the very beginning, and I am eternally grateful for it. He has blessed us by allowing us to see each other grow up, bring us to the same college, bring us back to Him at the same time, continually bring both of us closer to Him, and allow us to live less than 7 mins from each other practically our whole lives. God is truly amazing and I thank Him everyday for being kind enough to allow me to marry His daughter Emma.

It all started in August of 2008, when I walked past Jordan in the halls on the way to my first grade classroom .... Just kidding. But not really. Jordan and I have been so lucky to get to grow up together through elementary, middle, high school, and beyond. Jordan and I started to become friends in middle school, when we both went out for Student Council. While my first memories of him are in red basketball shorts down to his shins playing basketball at recess, my first real memories of interaction with Jordan were when he was the seventh grade class president (the first of his six-year run). I remember admiring his confident leadership, his genuine interest in his friends, and his intentionality in conversation.

Our friendship continued to grow until our freshman year of high school. It was around this time I started to take an actual interest in boys, and I realized that Jordan had a lot of qualities that I desired in a man. In fact, he had nearly everything I was looking for - he loved the Lord, he was driven and intelligent, he was a great friend, and he also wasn't afraid to talk to girls. As friend groups formed that year, we got to spend even more time together at pool parties, in the same classes, and working on trojan nite. We even went to homecoming together! I found even more to respect and admire about Jordan, and I realized that I would be very interested in dating Jordan. In fact, if you had asked me to pick one person from that high school at that moment in time that I had to marry it would've been Jordan! Call me crazy but I knew he had serious relational potential :) However, this posed a problem because I knew that most high school relationships didn't work out ... So by junior year I made it quite clear I wanted to be friends. Great friends but just friends. It was crazy but I was holding onto the thought that maybe, just maybe, after we graduated high school it would work out for us to date ... And be together ... For a long time...

To add on to this (probably not great) mindset I wasn't blind to the fact that Jordan liked me, so I wasn't really concerned about him going anywhere (yikes!) But safe to say that I was thrilled when I discovered senior year that Jordan was considering going to UMKC, one of the same schools I was also considering going to. That sealed my college choice - if Jordan was going, I was going! I couldn't believe that my long-awaited plan might be coming to fruition. We did both end up at UMKC, and I worked hard to restrain my excitement when I found out Jordan and I were not only placed in the same dorm, but the same floor, and best yet a couple rooms down from each other! Needless to say, since we knew no one else at UMKC we spent quite a bit of time together. Lots of long car rides to church (thank you 30 minute commute to Lee's Summit) and not having much to do in an unfamiliar city led us to having lots of good conversations about our relationship and the potential of dating, and Jordan asked me out in my dorm room on October 1st!

We dated for three years, and I said "yes" to the most perfectly planned proposal on September 28th of 2024. God has been so kind to us to let us do so much of life together, and we are so excited to celebrate the story He has written on August 16th!!!!