A love story of patience and timing

Back in the Spring of 2020 while I was still away at school I got a text from Shelby telling me that Zach had asked her if I was single and she asked if she could give him my number, to which I responded yes... the rest is history!

Our dating story is unique- that’s for sure! It took us both some time and a lot of patience to accept that this was our answered prayer. Our first date was at Bruster’s (he knew the way to my heart!) and you would’ve thought we had been friends for years. Ironically, we both told our best friends that something was different after that first date- “it just felt right”. Between the years of 2020 and 2022 we would continue to stay in touch and go on a few dates, but it wasn’t until Fall 2022 that we decided to jump in.

If you know Zach then you know once he gets his mind set on something he gives it 100% of his time and effort- the same was true in our story. Zach started telling his friends and family that we were dating soon after we had went on a few dates in Fall 2022. It was in this moment I told my friends that I think I "accidentally got a boyfriend" because I did not know we had put a label on it quite yet. Inside I was like a little kid on Christmas because I had been so patiently waiting for this moment.

Fast forward some time and Zach told me that they just learned of their upcoming deployment. Without skipping a beat and through my tears I said something along the lines of "this sucks, but I'm not leaving your side. This doesn't change how I feel." From this point forward we have chosen each other every day.

We spent the next year soaking in every moment with each other doing the things we love the most knowing that we would eventually come to the day that he had to leave to go serve our country. So although our story was back and forth in the beginning, there has been nothing back and forth since fall 2022- we continue to choose each other every day in a hundred different ways!

Things to Do

Zion National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park