Steven and I met in our Young Professionals Sunday school class at church in October 2022. We were both new to the class and he immediately caught my eye (apparently it was the same for him, too). The next few months we would see each other intermittently in class and exchange your typical pleasantries.

It wasn't until January 2023 that we started to become better friends. We went to a sports game night with our Sunday school class and we were able to spend more time talking and getting to know each other. By this point I definitely had a crush (he did too but we clearly weren't going to say anything to each other).

Fast-forward to February when some friends of ours hosted a Super Bowl party. All I really wanted to do was talk to him, because I was crushing hard and I wanted to get to know him even more. At the time I thought he liked someone else, so I was trying not to get my hopes up (spoiler alert: he didn't like someone else).

Then, in March, a group of people from our Sunday school class went to a local park for a game day. I met up with them later in the day, and Steven was there. We essentially talked to each other the rest of the day, and I offered to drive him to his car before some of us met for dinner. Let's be real, I definitely offered on purpose. I knew his birthday was coming up so I "casually" mentioned it. He told me later on that he was so surprised that I remembered that he knew I was something special. He asked for my number that night in the Chick-fil-A parking lot.

We texted here and there for a few weeks. In April he asked me if I wanted to go to the shooting range. I was so nervous and spend the next few days spiraling, wondering if it was a date or not. My best friend can attest to this, as I was constantly texting her, asking her what to do. I chilled out enough to go to the range, and we had a really good time. We went to Panera afterwards for lunch, and we stayed and talked until they were closing (in case you're wondering, we were there for 7 hours). And guess what? I still didn't think he had any feelings for me! It's how my brain works, don't ask me why. He did text me the next day and ask if he could make me dinner the next weekend. The night I came over for dinner he could tell I was very nervous, so he tried to help by making a joke about me having a "hot date". I then straight up said, "is that what this is?", to which he replied, "of course it is". Getting that question out of the way eased much of my anxiety regarding that night and what it meant.

Another fast-forward to December 2023. We've been together 9 months by this point, and Steven told me multiple times that I was the one he was going to marry. I knew he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I had never been more sure of something before. I knew he bought a ring, but supposedly he was still waiting on it (he wasn't). On December 16th we had a date night planned at the Botanical Gardens. Christmas is my favorite holiday and Steven knew how much I loved it. I almost didn't make it that night because of a migraine, but I rallied and we were able to go. We walked around for a bit and as we were walking down a path surrounded by tress covered in Christmas lights, Steven pulled me aside for a picture. He held me there longer than usual and kept looking at me. He told me how much he loved me and then said, "I have one more question for you". At that point I finally put together what was happening as he knelt down and asked me to marry him. I think I choked out a yes because I was crying so much. It was the best night of my life and I still think about how perfect it was.

I also know that this is only the beginning. It's the beginning of the best adventure of our lives, one we get to experience together.