Ill tell you the truth, I didnt like Zach when I started to get to know him. This is incredibly ironic now, but we both were super stubborn.

When I met Zach for the first time, I was in a strange place in my life. I was still in high school about 3 months shy of graduating. I was looking at going to college to get a degree in some kind of engineering, and I was dating someone else at the time as well. It was his first year traveling with the Red team. My church held a conference with the Red Team. I thought they were so cool, and I tried my hardest to get to know some of the team members. Zach was one of the quiet ones. I had a hard time trying to talk to him. I didnt really have a ton of interest in talking to him either though. While I was attending the conference, I sat across from the tech booth where he was sitting. So, I knew that he saw me. My life went on and I totally forgot about him.

My plans for after high school had dramatically changed. I was going to travel with the Life Action Red Team. I thought that I was coming on the road and taking photos and videos. However, they gave me the role of audio tech. It didnt really matter to me because all I really wanted to do was travel with the team. I accepted the role as the audio tech. So when I joined the Red team, I actually learned that I took Zach’s job without knowing, and they moved him to photo/video (which was the job I wanted).

Soon after, I arrived at staff training. Zach was actually one of the first people I met. Zach, me, and another girl went out to get ice cream the first night of staff training and I knew that I was going to at least be friends with him. Time went on and we started to become friends. For the longest time, I didnt think that Zach even enjoyed working with me. I really thought he and our friend, AJ, hated me. But, our friendship really didnt grow much depth until we both got stranded with no car, no idea where we were, or anyone within 200 miles of us that we knew. It was one of the funniest things. We really bonded over the unknowns of the situation, and I cleared up the thought of “oh man, he really hates me”.

The year continued on, and Zach and I just started to become best friends. We did everything together unintentionally. Then, I guess, it started to be intentional, but I didn't realize it. I was just living my life with my friends.

During our spring break, Zach invited me to stay at his house, meet his family, and drive back to meet the team. I thought that was kinda strange, so that was when I started picking up on that he liked me. It went as well as it could have gone, and we drove 8 hours in the car together to camp to meet the team there. We talked the entire way. 8 hours. That's not like either of us. That whole car ride is such a funny story. At that point of the year, we only had 4 more weeks left. We talked on the phone at night, and I mean we talked a lot. I know Zach had people telling him to chill. I waited until the 4 weeks were over, and I had gone home for that summer for Zach to tell me he liked me. Two weeks after, he told me he liked me, and we started dating.

We spent most of our summer serving Life Action Family Camp alongside some of our best friends. After the summer we started long-distance dating. The first stretch was 3 months and the second stretch was 6 months. Even when we are at home, we are still long-distance dating, but it’s more doable because he comes to visit me. On our one year of dating, June 14, 2023, Zachary McIntyre asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. Who could ever say no to him?

Now, we are traveling with the Life Action Red team for a 3rd year. I am traveling as the production manager, and Zach is the Team manager and Business manager. I am so excited about this upcoming year. After our travel year is over, we’ll be planning our wedding! August 24, 2024, bring it on.

L&Z