How We Met:

Sometime in mid 2015

Matt Sosebee comes up to me (Katie) and says "You know who is an awesome, single man who also loves God?... John Franklin." And immediately walks away.

For me (John), this Sosebee suggestion was something that was happening from January 2016 on, and went about the same... "You know whose so cute and loves the Lord and you should pursue? Katie Bristo." Levi was involved as well and would just walk by saying "KB."

May 2016

John and I met while attending Vertical Church's volunteer banquet. When I first walked in, I was handed two tickets, one that I was supposed to hold onto in case the number on the ticket was called and I was told to hand the other one to whoever was taking up the tickets . Well I walk through the doors and John is standing there taking up the tickets. I hand him mine and start to walk off and he says, "I'm going to keep this." I was so confused. "I'm going to keep this so you can't win anything." I was super confused since we had never talked before. I just played along, laughed, and told him that he better not because I really wanted to win.

Actually, I (John) wasn't even supposed to be taking tickets. I was simply keeping Chris Gallas company while he took tickets. I saw this opportunity to start seeing what Katie Bristo was all about, and that first interaction told me she could keep up with good banter. What went wrong here was that I intended to give her other ticket to the ticket-caller to ensure she would win... I can't remember if I forgot to do that, or if they just told me no. :)

We continued to see each other at church and church events. We quickly exchanged phone numbers and hung out EVERY chance we could- but it would always be with a group of people.

Bonfire Realization

Katie and I had been hanging out a bit, but never solo. June 5th there was a collective bonfire, and we had been talking about how we couldn't wait for it. However, I was still slightly unsure about the whole prospect of this relationship. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment we had spent together up until that point, and I even kept a meticulous record of those events. I was simply unsure of how things would work with her going off to school again. I knew by the end of this night that I couldn't dismiss my feelings for her. As soon as Katie arrived, I was already there playing a game and my excitement skyrocketed when I knew she was on the scene, and I couldn't wait for her to come talk to me. The whole time we sat with each other, and laughed together... there we moments that night it was like we were the only ones there. After she left, I spent some time spilling my guts to Chris Turturro, who with wise counsel helped me realize I just wasn't trusting God with this situation. The next day, I was to leave with the youth for camp, but I was able to invite Katie to have lunch with me before we left. Our first time together alone!

First "Real" Date

We finally had our first date June 10th at Buffalo Wild Wings. On the outside, this date probably seemed like any ordinary date, but I feel like it is important to mention because John said something during that date that I will never forget.

When John and I first started talking, I was very hesitant because I knew that I was about to start grad school and I knew I 1) didn't want a long distance relationship and 2) I didn't want a boyfriend while in my first year at Tarleton. During this first date, I immediately mentioned those concerns to John and he replied with "Well I don't know, but I do know that God's timing is perfect."

God's timing definitely is perfect and that has been evident in every aspect of our relationship.

It wasn't long after that date that I knew I loved him and it wasn't long after that that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

December 22, 2016

I woke up super excited because this was the day I had been thinking about for a long time- a double date with my best friend Emily…(little did I know, this was actually the day I had been excited about my whole life). Emily and I had always talked about how we couldn't wait to both be dating someone at the same time so we could go on a double date. And with our track record with guys, we had kind of given up on the idea. A week before, Emily called me and we set up this double date day, we were going to get our nails done, get dressed up, and go out to eat with our boyfriends. Everything was going according to plan- Emily and I got our nails done, we got coffee, and were back at her place getting ready with Riley (Emily's boyfriend at the time… now fiancé:)). Then all of a sudden Riley got a call from his grandparents (actually John) saying that their new dog was throwing up and they needed to leave now to take their dog to the vet. (This was all part of John's elaborate plan.) I headed to John's house, super bummed that our double date wasn't happening.

I walked in and see John on one knee… messing with the TV (he was foreshadowing to the rest of the night.. only he would think to do that :)). We decided to just go ahead and make a date night out of it since the two of us were already dressed up. We went out to eat and then he "randomly" decided that it would be cool to go to Klyde Warren Park and look at the Christmas tree and the lights. We walked around and talked for a little bit and then he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a Christmas present for me. It was wrapped in brown paper and John had decorated the outside of it. I unwrapped it and it was a Bible with "Katie Nicole Franklin" inscribed on the front. And that is when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!

Best day ever.