Our story began the day that we met in our Old Testament class in August 2022. Lily was being super silly in class and joking around with the professor, and somehow, John found this very appealing. He came up to her after class and asked to sit with her next time, and that's where we got started! We were friends for a few months and then started the "talking" stage in October. This was our first picture together! I know, it's pretty silly!

He took Lily out on dates and courted her like a proper gentleman. She adored him and patiently waited for him to officially ask her to be his girlfriend!

Our first picture together as a couple! We became an official couple on November 13th, 2022, but we aren't big "picture people," so the first picture of us as a couple took us almost a month. Oops!

This is a picture from our first spring break as a couple. We spent several days in Emerald Isle with Lily's family, and John's parents came down and met her for the first time. What an exciting week!

This is from our first military ball together (our first formal event). Lily was so excited to be on John's arm!

Our first vacation together! Lily went up to Minnesota for 10 days to visit family and tour the state. We had a lot of fun!

... And then we turned around and went on another vacation with Lily's family! We went to Tennessee to go to Dollywood and do other fun excursions. On Lily's 19th birthday, we all went white water rafting! It made it that much better to have John there.

At the start of our second school year together, we found a church we liked and started going together. This was a turning point for us spiritually as a couple, and really helped us grow in the spirit.

We celebrated one year together! Yay us!

Our second military ball together!

A few months later, John had to go to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for 5 weeks for an army training camp. Lily booked flights to surprise him at his graduation, and she and his family had to keep this secret for a long time! After her connecting flight out of Charlotte got canceled, her mom ended up picking her up at midnight, and they split the 8-hour drive overnight, arriving less than an hour before it was time to go see him! They barely made it, but John was worth it to Lily. Even though it was a short trip, it was a special one. Having very minimal contact while he was away was very hard on us, but our hearts only grew fonder, and we became a lot stronger from the experience.

Soon after, we started our senior year together. This is a photo from our first senior football game!

Our first state fair experience! Neither one of us had ever been to the North Carolina State Fair before, so it was really cool that we got to have our first time together. He won Lily a giant stuffed animal like the boys in the movies! He scored major boyfriend points with that one.

We celebrated two years together! Hooray! This wasn't taken on the actual anniversary, so Lily is lying about the time stamp... but it's the closest thing we have!

Then, of course, one of the happiest days of our lives: John proposed! Lily was absolutely overjoyed, and he picked out the perfect ring. It took weeks to come down from this high!

Military ball 2025! Our third and last NC State Milball. So bittersweet.

Signed the contract with our venue and officially booked November 1st as our wedding date! Yay!

We graduated together! So bittersweet. Our whole relationship thus far has been in college. This is the place we built our foundation. It's time to move on and continue to build our lives together in the great beyond!