It all began in the Love Joy library, at our shared university. This is where I fatefully sat a few chairs down the corridor from Patrick and began studying for my next exam. Little did I know, a plan was formulating in his brain and a few minutes later, he approached me. He requested that I watch his belongings while he made a trip to the restroom. I happily obliged. I would later find out that he never actually went to the restroom. He was secretly working up the courage to talk with me.

When he returned, we started chatting and the butterflies began to fly. We exchanged numbers and continued communicating the following weeks. It wasn't long before we realized just how much we had in common and our fascinations in one another grew. We learned that we are both from the suburbs of Saint Louis city and grew up about 10 minutes away from one another. Our childhoods were filled with time spent in church learning about Jesus, outdoors playing sports, and with family enjoying time together. As adults, our commonalities continued. We both delight in live music events and eating new and divergent foods. We enjoy traveling, hiking and camping, cooking meals together, and spending quality time with friends and family. This fateful meeting and alignment of shared interests sparked the beginning of our love story.

Over the years our passion has grown for these respective interests. We have traveled to and experienced the beauty of diverse landscapes and delicious cuisines found in over fifteen states in North America and one foreign country. We've spent countless hours singing and dancing together at live music events and encouraging one another to reach new goals in our athleticism. Most importantly, we have strengthened our relationship with God and faith in Jesus through meaningful conversation and time spent in the word.

Our aligned morals, similar lifestyles, and common interests provided us with the confidence needed to take a nerve-wracking yet rewarding leap of faith together. All the way from Saint Louis, Missouri to Portland, Oregon, we moved. We have experienced, we have learned and we have loved. Now we are delighted to invite our closest family and friends to gather together in celebration of our love and marriage.