Nota Bene: This story was written by both of us. We think you'll be able to figure out who wrote what part...

John met Maggie through a church bible study group (Maggie did not participate in it but it was hosted at her house). Maggie would often wait outside for the bible study to end before coming in because she is much less extroverted than John. John would leave early and talk to Maggie on the way out. John thought the two would do a little flirtatious dance in their conversation, Maggie, however, did not think anything of it. Maggie also had a dog named Lewis, John loved Lewis (as of the date this was written, Lewis is not dead nor will he ever die, but this writing is in the past tense to maintain narrative flow).

One day Maggie came home and John was putting dishes away in the dishwasher, as a kind gesture, thinking he was helping; however, Maggie thought differently and scolded him in such a way that reminded of the way he was often treated back in NJ; it was love at first slight. From then on, John would look more forward to bible study group on Wednesdays at the hope of getting to be yelled at by Maggie again.

It was in September after a trip to Chicago that John asked Maggie out (asking to take Lewis to Prairie Moraine Dog Park). Maggie couldn't tell whether or not John was asking her out or just wanted to hang with the dog. John knew it was a win-win because he'd get to hang out with Lewis either way. John had a really great time, Maggie thought it was alright... John extended an invitation to a volleyball game that night for the UW Women's volleyball team indicating that it was in fact a date. John once again had a great time, Maggie was on the fence, but John had nice green eyes and Maggie didn't want to die alone.

After the volleyball game, Maggie was convinced that John would—at the very least—be a good friend. So, she asked him if he would like to see Howl’s Moving Castle with her (Ghibli Fest 2024 for the win). John hadn’t seen it before, but he was willing to tag along. Despite her poor movie theater etiquette (she still contends that whispering during a movie that is twenty years old is absolutely fine and not at all rude), John asked if he could see her again. Always articulate, Maggie said she was “not not interested” and they decided to keep seeing each other and see where things went.

They also decided to try running together. A bold choice, to be sure, but early morning runs (well, walk/runs), game nights, and half-a-dozen failed attempts to make a good Italian marinara convinced Maggie that she was, in fact, quite interested in the guy who could so easily make her laugh, didn’t shy away from her quirks, and shared her love of Christ. It also helped that John made her nutella cheesecake for her birthday (with a Halloween oreo base, yeah the orange ones). John, on the other hand, figured out that having a girlfriend who was able to take down the smoke alarm without a chair or ladder was actually really convenient.

Although many adventures (and a few injuries) were had, most were the everyday boring type that mean way more to the people involved in them than the people reading their story. But it didn’t take long for Maggie to introduce John to her family, and for John to invite Maggie to New Jersey to meet his (where John casually announced to his parents that he was going to marry Maggie; without telling Maggie first). They each rang in the New Year confident that they had found the one with whom they wanted to spend all their future new years.

Then Maggie went away to Hawaii and John started his plan to propose. He had two weeks to ask Maggie’s parents Dave & Vicki, being that they were going to meet up with Maggie in Hawaii. When her parents were in town ,and Ohio State was playing the Badgers in basketball, John got tickets from his work (Meicher CPAs LLP: the greatest CPA firm in the world). Dave and John went to the game and watched as the Badgers decimated the expectedly shamefully inadequate Ohio State Buckeyes (Dak & Emily, please disregard all smack talk and know that such opinions are not shared by both members of this upcoming union). During a loud commercial break where the music was blaring, John asked Dave if now was a bad time to ask if he could marry his daughter. Dave responded, “It’s always a bad time to ask to marry my daughter.” John laughed and then Dave didn’t say anything for the rest of the game, so John catastrophized and thought Dave’s silence was a “No.”

Thankfully, when they got back to the car, Dave gave John his blessing. John was ecstatic and dropped Dave and Vicki off the next day to fly Hawaii; now he had to trust them to not spill the beans, which was probably short sighted, but they held strong.

The proposal was supposed to be more grandiose, but John picked up the ring and quickly realized he would be unable to focus on anything else until he proposed. Also, in that 24 hours, Maggie almost found the ring twivce. So the proposal ended up just being John and Maggie wearing sweatpants, drinking tea, and watching a korean drama (something they do often). Maggie was none-the-wiser, very surprised, and happily said yes.

Both John and Maggie give glory to God for bringing them together at the perfect time. They have seen His care, love, and guidance throughout their relationship and are thankful that they each point the other back to Him. Their prayer is that their relationship, and now their marriage, will serve God’s Kingdom and that His love will be evident to all who share in their special day.