Joshua and I met while working at Camp Joy in Whitewater, WI, during the summer of 2022. I was the camp nurse, and he was a counselor. Over the course of the summer, it just developed that we spent a lot of time on the weekends playing pool with our friend Jake. In that casual setting, we discussed a lot of random and deep life things and were very good friends by the end of the summer, but we weren't really thinking about it being anything more.

As the school year started, I went back home, and Joshua went back to school at Maranatha. However, since my brother David had recently moved up to Maranatha for work, I made a habit of going up once a month to visit, usually on a day when there was a sports game going on. Joshua would often join us during the games and sometimes hang out with us for much of the day. We both could feel our friendship changing during this time, but we were also both really slow to admit it because we were afraid of ruining a great friendship.

In March of 2023, Joshua asked my dad for permission to get to know me better. When my dad asked me what I thought, I told him I wasn't ready yet. I really liked Joshua, but I also knew that he felt called to the mission field, and I wasn't sure if I was willing to consider that. So I said, "Tell him he can ask again at Christmas if he's still interested." Over the next few months, there was a lot of prayer and a lot of tears (on my part, at least). I was wrestling with surrender to the mission field and trying not to let my interest in Joshua cause me to make a decision with the wrong motives. I was doing camp nursing again, and Joshua was interning in South Korea, so pretty much our only communication during that time was his prayer letters. Through some wise counsel and time with the Lord, I finally came to a place of surrender where I told the Lord I was willing to follow Him wherever He called me, whether that meant the mission field or not, and whether that meant Joshua or not. Shortly after that, I began to have real peace about moving forward with a relationship with Joshua, if he asked again (which I didn't know if he would). And soon after that, I also learned that my dad had actually told him he could ask again in October, not at Christmas, and I was delighted! We saw each other at Maranatha in September, and I heard all about his summer internship. At the end of that day, I went home and told my dad, "I'm ready now." So, on October 8, Joshua came over, and we officially began our relationship! It was a very special few months.

On January 2, 2024, we went to downtown Chicago with some of my siblings. My brother Zach's girlfriend (now fiancée) Rebecca was in town and had never seen Chicago, so that was our primary motive for going, as far as I knew. Our ambitions were to go ice skating and to ride the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. The Ferris Wheel had been on my bucket list for years, and I've always thought it would be the coolest place to get engaged. Well, as we were getting in line, Joshua informed me that he had bought us tickets for the VIP car as a late Christmas present. At that point, I wondered if he was going to propose, but I tried to talk myself out of it. I didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't. Getting engaged on the Ferris Wheel had been my dream proposal, but I never really thought it was actually going to happen! But while we were up overlooking the city, he gave me a special book and then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! To which I quickly answered, "Absolutely!" It was literally my dream proposal, but more importantly than that, I am still amazed at the man that God has given me!

We are so excited to see what God has in store for our future together!