James & Leah's First Date While Leah was traveling to Chantilly, VA for a work conference, and while James was with his family in Woodbridge, VA, they scheduled their first date, dinner at Taste of Tandoor, an Indian restaurant. They were both equally nervous and excited. Leah's stomach was even a little unwell because of the anticipation. They sat together for hours enjoying great conversation and lots of laughter. James could not stop smiling the whole night. When the restaurant began to close they moved their conversation out to the parking lot. James then invited Leah to see the church that his grandfather had started decades ago. Before the night ended, they prayed together and both felt that something significant happened during that prayer; it was powerful! James took Leah back to her car where they were promptly blocked into their parking spots by an eighteen-wheeler delivering supplies to a nearby restaurant. So they stayed and talked more. The date ended with a wonderful hug and a kiss on the cheek from James to Leah.

Dates 2 & 3 were over the weekend before Leah returned to NC from her work conference. Date number 3 was particularly special, as James and Leah attended church together, enjoyed a quiet lunch, and a restful afternoon at a local park. The special part came when shortly after lunch, James and Leah had their first kiss! The next afternoon, James met Leah's mother when they all had lunch together. She felt that he was charming and quite the gentleman.

James and Leah grew closer together despite the physical distance between them. James had accepted a job in Hampton, VA. They were now about 3.5 hours away from each other. Travel was an obstacle that they knew they could overcome. They decided to connect in person at least two weekends a month. The weekend of October 16th Leah traveled to VA to meet James' family for the first time. They had conversations late into the evening and played board games together; the competition was fierce! His mom felt that she was very sweet and enjoyable to talk to.

Later in October, James traveled to NC where he attended a festival with Leah and her best friend Julia Yao. That evening after returning home exhausted, but so joyful from the festival, James opened his heart and shared with Leah that he loved her for the first time. Thankfully, she felt the same!

In November, James had the opportunity to meet Leah's dad while he was in the hospital. They continued to connect with each other's families over the holidays. On December 4th, James visited with Leah's dad again and had a special moment where he asked his permission for her hand in marriage. We didn't know at the time, that it was also going to be the day her father passed away in the hospital. James and Leah continued to work through the challenges of life together, through the grief, the distance, and even learning how to communicate better. They continued to see God's hand in their relationship as He guided them through a hard season. On New Year's Day they attended the Chinese Lantern Festival in NC, launching them into 2022 with beautiful lighting displays! They felt there was a budding hope of brighter days to come.

James and Leah celebrated their first Valentine's Day together! There were flowers, a sunset stroll at Huntington Beach in VA, great Thai food, followed by slow dancing the night away. James loved the special gift Leah gave him, a framed picture of the night sky when they first met.

James and Leah had their first movie theater date! Leah had been excited to see the last Jurassic World movie for over a year and James made it happen! Even if the chocolates melted in his pocket on the way to the theater. He also had to first get caught up watching the original series, which they had done over the month leading up to seeing the new movie.

After a very busy season for both Leah and James, they began to relax and dream about the future together. This included brainstorming for the wedding that they hoped for later this year. While venue shopping, they had a really special moment together at the Washington Duke Inn where they slow danced in the empty grand ballroom.

James and Leah enjoyed celebrating James' sister, Rachel, as she married the love of her life! James and Leah cut a few rugs on the dance floor with the wedding party and other family members. Leah loved that she could connect with James' extended family for the first time. They are so much fun to talk to!

The Proposal HER STORY - So I thought I was going to brunch with my mom and a family friend but my mom was being very suspicious, saying things like “Yeah, I think this is a nice restaurant, like the family friend said we needed a reservation. So, we should dress up.” Naturally I was like “Uugghhh really…” and then when my mom said I could even wear one of my dresses I was definitely suspicious, she never suggests things like that! So, I got ready and then as we were driving, I was again suspicious that the gps said we were going to Cary, they never choose restaurants in Cary when we go out. Then when the directions got more specific, I was like “Hmm I think we are going to the Mayton restaurant.” I knew James and I had previously had a special moment there and even considered it for a wedding venue. In my head I was calculating what exactly the odds were that our family friend would have chosen that restaurant (I almost teared up at this point in the car) but I was willing to give it reasonable doubt because James was supposed to be at work all day. We park and go in the front doors of The Mayton and Ashley Gagnon is standing there with a sign in her hand and that’s when I knew this was the proposal and the tears started! I walked up and hugged her and she gave me the sign that had a sweet message from James and photos from our first date on it. And then 10ft behind her was Julia Yao with another sign with more photos and another message. I hugged her and she also gave me the sign from James. Then Meredith Rollins was down the hall from her with a third sign, she was by a glass door leading to a little secluded patio where James was waiting for me. So I walked out on the patio and everybody followed me outside. James took both of my hands and said some really sweet things that in all honestly were a blur for several days afterward because I was so emotional. He had said how much he enjoyed our relationship and felt that it was a privilege to have gotten to know me over the last 11 months and that he would love to spend the rest of his life with me. Then he got down on one knee (yes, I’m still crying through this entire process) and he asked me to marry him!! I let out another burst of tears and was just able to get out my "yes!!" He put the ring on my finger and stood up and kissed me! Then everyone came up to hug and congratulate us and we took some more photos before going inside for a really nice brunch at the restaurant.

The Proposal HIS STORY - I wanted to plan something special for my proposal to Leah. It was really amazing how God brought everything about. The place I chose for the proposal was the Mayton Inn in downtown Cary, NC. I came to that decision because Leah and I had a special evening there. After we attended our friend's 50th anniversary celebration party, I suggested the idea to walk in downtown Cary, which was lit up beautifully with string lights in the trees and a spectacular moon in the sky. As we were walking, we came to the Inn, and Leah said, “Why don’t we go inside?” I was uncomfortable about bothering the inn staff and didn’t think we could do that. But she said, “The worst thing they could say is ‘No,’ so let’s try!” I am glad we went inside, as the hotel desk attendant gave us a nice tour, and Leah really liked all the different rooms–the ballroom, library, lounge area by the fireplace and the restaurant inside. She said she would enjoy coming back to the Inn and having an event or a date night at the restaurant. So I made a note of that in my mind! Once I bought the ring, I made an appointment at The Mayton to take another tour, where we talked through all my ideas. After that, I started reaching out to our close friends Ashley and Shawn Gagnon, Julia Yao, and Meredith and Dylan Rollins, to help with my proposal plans. My idea was to have them each stand at different spots forming a path from inside the Inn leading to where I would be standing to propose to her. I created signs for each of them to hold that had two lines of a poem that I wrote for Leah and several pictures of our favorite dating memories. The last thing to figure out was how to get Leah there! Originally, I had thought of having Meredith bring her, but Ashley suggested asking Leah's mom. So, the week beforehand, I reached out to Mrs. Kim. She was able to plan with a family friend, Mrs. Pam, to invite Leah to brunch at a nice restaurant and to dress up for it. The day arrives. I wasn’t nervous, but I did have nerves of excitement! I arrived at the Inn and touched base with the front desk attendant about what I had planned. Ashley and her husband Shawn, Meredith and Julia arrived. I recruited Shawn to do a video recording of the proposal on his phone. I talked with the Mayton staff about what I had in mind, and when they showed me the private covered terrace, I thought it was perfect! 10:55am arrives, and Meredith notifies us that they’re parking. A big smile comes on my face, I have a few minutes of prayer and thanking Jesus for what this day means to me and what it represents for His Kingdom and our futures. At 11am, Meredith gives a thumbs up to me through the door. I begin to see the camera flashing inside, then I see my Leah walk out to me, with tears of joy in her eyes. We give each other a big hug. Then I took her hands, and I said some endearing words of love to her. Then, I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. And she said ‘Yes’! I put the ring on her left hand, kissed her and hugged her. Then everyone came over and greeted us, we took pictures, and enjoyed the moment together. Then, Meredith said that the restaurant could seat us now for brunch.

Wedding Day at King's Park International Church!!!