In December 2022 I was writing out goals for the new year and really felt encouraged that 2023 would be a year of change. Although I had been on a few dates here and there, I hadn’t found anyone that I connected with or was attracted to. The person I was looking for just didn’t seem to exist. The top item on my list was that this person was dedicated to glorifying God and serving and loving people. I wanted to be with someone who was a good leader for me and would be a life partner with a positive outlook on life and a growth mindset so we could encourage each other to work on bettering ourselves.

A few months later, I noticed a new guy at church. I called him “Colorado boy” in my head since he looked like a strong, adventurous guy who probably climbed mountains in Colorado. On March 12, several of us from the young professionals (“YoPros”) group at Ucity met up for an impromptu coffee run after church. I had my eye on “colorado boy” and luckily for me he came along. I officially met Seth and we had a great conversation all about running, coffee and country dancing. Conversation flowed so easily and I immediately noticed his upbeat, energetic personality and his positivity. When we left, Seth asked for my number “just in case we plan a group country dancing outing”.

Of course, I immediately went home and told my sisters “so, I met this guy...” and promptly looked him up on every social media platform I could think of. I was only impressed by everything I found out about him.

Over the next few weeks, several of us began going to the Maverick to country dance pretty much every week, and Seth and I went every time. I started to really like him. Seth was a perfect gentleman and asked me to dance every time we went to the Maverick with our group of YoPro friends. As I got to know Seth better through dancing and occasional brief conversations at church, I started liking him more and more. I learned that he wasn’t just a good dancer, tall, strong, attractive and totally my type, but also was the most inspiring and impressive person. During all of March and April my prayer request at small group was always “for God to give me wisdom on how this friendship with Seth would turn out and for patience for me to trust his will”.

On May 1st, I decided I would just pray once about Seth that day and try to forget about him for the rest of the week. Then, what do you know, but the next evening Seth called me. He, very kindly and respectfully, asked me out on a date. I was elated. Our first date was on May 4th and honestly there’s no way it could have gone better. We were able to talk and really get to know each other for the first time and somehow it felt like we had known each other for years. I felt so comfortable and confident with Seth and grew more attracted to him and his character, and was impressed with his intentionality and care in how he managed his life and relationships. After a few months of dating, we became an official couple. Per Seth’s thoughtful initiative, we practiced intentionality as a couple with weekly date nights where we take turns planning the date.

On Thursday May 16th 2024, I went over to Seth’s (and his roommate, Paul’s) for what I thought was a normal date night. That night, my life changed forever. You’ll have to watch the video to find out what happened ;)

No one is perfect, but I thank God that Seth is the perfect person for me. He loves me more than I ever thought someone could love me. He leads me, challenges me, encourages me and supports me. I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with my favorite person and best adventure partner.

Throughout the last year, we have taken many culinary adventures together on our weekly date nights. We’ve traveled together and trained together. We’ve planned together and read books together and have had incredible times with our amazing friends who are so encouraging and supportive. I have experienced so much in this last year and half with Seth, and this is just the beginning of the adventure.

The story starts out at an after church coffee shop, March 12th, 2023. There was a group of us walking over after church. I wanted to get to know more of the young professionals in the church, plus, there was a cute girl going along who seemed my type. That is where I first met Melissa.

As we sat there talking, I remember feeling an amazing connection, there was definitely something about her that deeply resonated with me. I didn’t realize this until later, but we have a remarkably similar background. I remembered her friend, Amanda, talking about how she liked country dancing so, when I asked her about it, I already had a date/activity in mind to get to know her better. I got her number and a few days later we found ourselves at the Maverick, a country dancing venue with live music and free dance lessons. I also invited my friend Jordan along to keep it casual, but when we all lined up I had to be sure I was the one dancing with Melissa. We all had so much fun, pretty much every week afterwards we’d go and I’m pretty sure if you scroll far enough back in our young professionals church group chat you’ll see it all there. The more we talked, the more I wanted to tell her I liked her and to properly ask her out on a date in person, but the timing never seemed right. Melissa always seemed to be surrounded by her friends -- it seemed impossible to get her by herself.

One day during a work lunch, a friend (shout out to Brennan) gave me the nudge: “You better ask her out, otherwise she’ll lose interest.” I thought to myself: “What am I waiting for?” So that night I called up Melissa and set up our first date. The rest is pretty much history. It was an amazing solid 5 hour date of talking, walking and then later in the night country dancing. It was, by far, the best first date I’ve ever been on. I remember feeling such a strong connection that the very next day I wrote in my journal that I thought she would be the one who I would marry.

The biggest decision came in May when I asked Melissa to marry me. The original plan for the proposal was a simple creative idea, but thanks to my amazing roommate, Paul, it just kept getting more and more crazy involving trips to home depot to build a proposal site, hiring secret photographers and sneaking dozens of people into the house and decorating without Melissa noticing. She said yes and... well... here we are :).

We’ve shared so many countless experiences and honestly each week has been better than the previous. I’ve never met anyone with such a big heart, so much energy and life, a will to work hard for what she wants and finding joy in creation. The best quality by far is knowing we have a strong foundation in Christ. A God that loved us and gave his life for us. When things get difficult (and they will) and when we fail each other (and we will), our faith is always something we can go back to. Knowing that no matter what happens we can find unity in Christ is huge.

I couldn’t be more excited to marry Melissa and have her by my side for the rest of my life.