It all started with a swipe. Amaris was getting ready to leave for a work trip to Pennsylvania and Joe was..well we don't remember what Joe was doing besides swiping right on the "Most beautiful girl he had ever seen" on that fateful Friday night. At first, communication was slow, Amaris was traveling and Joe was slaving away working; neither had extremely high hopes (dating apps can be daunting). However, after a lot of time chasing her, Joe finally got Amaris' attention. Conversation began to get more serious as the texts became longer and then the voice memos began. The voice memos started out quick, a few seconds at most, then at one point both Amaris and Joe had sent messages over 30 minutes per memo.

They both began taking notes in hopes to remember what the other said when they sent theirs, but what neither of them truly realized was the impact this would have on the start of their Love Story. It took almost a full month before they went on their first date, although some would consider listening to each other talk for minutes the closest to a date you can get without going on one. They also created a shared note "Things for Pablo (Amaris) and Hellen Keller (Joe) to discuss on First Date '', as they wanted to share more intimate conversations in-person rather than over the phone.

Their first date would be at Herschel's Scratch Kitchen in New Port Richey, Florida on Saturday, November 4, 2023. At the time, Joe would not let Amaris know how far the drive would be for him, but she quickly found out it was almost a 3 hour drive. But, as Joe still says, 1 million percent worth it. They had brunch at 11am. Amaris looked gorgeous. She had a beautiful smile, long brown hair and the most gorgeous voice. Joe was wearing one of his slightly strange, slightly stylish shirts, his shrimp button down. The conversation flowed and not even the somewhat rude server could slow down what was starting as a great date. After the brunch, they then went ax throwing at a local establishment, where Amaris unfortunately could not beat Joe. She had hoped to beat him at cornhole which was just outside of the ax throwing building, however, she was unsuccessful at that as well. The two then decided to go putt-putt golfing, where Joe was able to teach Amaris how to swing; they had a wonderful time and were quickly falling for each other.

The would-be couple then decided to go for dinner at a restaurant called The Social, as they had spent most of the day talking and getting to know each other. After dinner they decided to take a walk around the local park pond and discuss more of their beliefs and their upbringings. It was their perfect first date and they both left that night, yearning for the next time they could be together.

They would go on a few more dates before Joe asked Amaris to be his girlfriend. One to a park with a boardwalk where they picked up food from Aldi and had a picnic. And one around Joe's area where they went on a walk down his favorite trail and got eaten alive by mosquitos. We then watched one of Amaris' favorite movies, "The Greatest Showman". Through all of our dates and adventures we wanted to be certain of one thing, the other knew that no matter what Jesus Christ was to be the center of what we did and our future. December 8th at the park from their first date, while walking through Christmas lights, Joe decided to ask Amaris to be his girlfriend. She smiled the biggest smile he had seen yet and said yes. With Christmas quickly approaching, the two had planned to stay local and go to Amaris' church for the Christmas Eve service and then go to her mom's house after to have a delicious Greek dinner and exchange gifts. However something had happened the night before.

Joe had found out his older brother and his wife and kids had all driven from Florida to Ohio to surprise his grandparents for Christmas for the first time in years. Joe then decided he needed to go be with his family to reunite with his siblings, but he wanted to take his gorgeous girlfriend to meet his family and hopefully see snow. He knew it would be a longshot that she would say yes on such short notice, however Amaris decided she would make the trip with Joe to Ohio to meet his family.

Unfortunately their time in Ohio came and went without Amaris seeing any snow, but she was able to meet most of Joe's family. Amaris then flew back to Florida and Joe had a trip planned with his friend Jack to go to Dallas, then Arizona.

The days flew by when Joe and Amaris would be together. One of them would arrive on a Friday and then they would blink and it would be Sunday and time to drive back. They would meet each other's family as they met more of Joe's family that lived in Florida (His brother James's family and his cousin Jordan & his wife Sarah). Joe would eventually fly to Kansas with Amaris to meet her sister and brother-in-law and spend the week with them and the infamous cat, Luna. They took them to explore Wichita, Kansas, but like every time Joe and Amaris were together the time flew.

Joe and Amaris's love continued to grow, until one fateful day in Sorrento, Italy, Joe decided to buy Amaris an engagement ring. He wanted it to be as special and beautiful as she was and from the moment he set eyes on it, he knew..it was the one ring. He flew back with it for her and managed to hide it from her for the next few weeks until May 25th. Joe had been scheming on how to pull off the perfect engagement for months and finally believed he had the plan. He texted Amaris' friend Lexi to sneak down to Ft. Lauderdale and take pictures and also asked if she would be sure to have Amaris get her nails done a couple days before. Joe decided he would also use an NF concert as a cover story to convince her to come down with him that weekend and make a weekend out of it. He told her to bring her favorite dress for a classy breakfast restaurant that he had reservations for. His plan was to ask her on Las Olas beach at sunrise (which is one of her favorite things to do). Everything went almost perfectly to plan as Amaris was fairly surprised, a friend may have let slip that she knew I had a ring despite me telling Amaris I didn't have one yet. But Amaris said yes as the sun crested over the ocean.

Since then Joe and Amaris have been on numerous adventures from; driving to Ohio for the 4th of July, to cooking delicious dinners and working out together. But through it all, past all the love and the occasional fighting they have, both vowed to keep God at the center of their relationship and their upcoming marriage.

Their hope is that everyone who comes across their story and those whom they share their story with, will see and hear the Gospel of Christ Jesus in it. We have lots of exciting stories from our relationship, but we both realize that without the Gift of Salvation, from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; neither of us would be here or be the people He has called us to be. So we thank Jesus for His sacrifice and the examples given in the Bible of what a Godly marriage is to look like. We invite all who are believers in the Gospel to keep us accountable as we move into this exciting next stage of life, and for those who are not present on our special day, we invite you to find the promise of the Gospel and offer to help answer any questions you may have.