Timmy:  I first met Mikayla Marie on a warm August evening, in my good buddy, Brent Miller's living room. Brent had mentioned that he wanted me to meet a female friend of his earlier that year in April. However, the timing was not right. By August, I was finally in the right place to meet someone, and Brent planned on introducing us after their performance for the University of Findlay Marching Band at Findlay High School. All Brent had told me about this girl was her name and that she was in the band with him; unprompted he also gave me her phone number. I opted to wait to message her until I met her. Brent’s wife, Lydia, was a little more helpful and gave me some details about this mystery girl I was going to meet. By the sound of Lydia’s description I started to understandably get nervous; anyone who knows Mikayla would know why. There isn’t a woman alive like her. Though the performance was in the evening, Brent innocuously invited me over to his house early to hang out for a bit. I didn’t think anything of it, until I was greeted at the door by Lydia with a brief, “Mikayla’s here.” My stomach shot into my throat as I walked inside. Little did I know, but I was five steps away from meeting my future wife. There she was, reclined on the couch wearing a UF hat and an orange shirt coordinated with the orange tennis shoes she was wearing. After we started dating I soon learned how coordinated she likes to be with her outfits and the outfits of those close to her; it reaches levels near lunacy. Anyway there she was, short pretty legs perched on the couch, a nervous smile on her face, and rubber ducky earrings hanging from her ears. Immediately I thought, “Oh !@#$. I better be really funny to even have a shot.” Fifteen minutes of laughter and inappropriate jokes from me later, they had to leave for their band performance. As Lydia can attest to, after we walked the gang to the door and they left, I almost keeled over. I was so overwhelmed. Lydia’s description, though honest, did not even come close to describing Mik. I don’t know if love at first sight is real or genuine; however I knew after being around this girl for no more than fifteen minutes, I had to do everything in my power to be with her, or at least try. Anyone who knows Mikayla knows she isn't just a pretty face; she is a pretty face with a beautiful soul to match. Mikayla: One random day at band camp, my friend Brent pulled me aside to talk to me. He led with I don't mean to pry into your love life, but… At this moment, I had no idea what I would eventually get myself into. Brent shared a few small details about Timmy, including he was 6'5. That's where I stopped Brent and agreed to meet him. Little did I know, he was going to be much more to me than just his height. I didn’t realize at the time that I just agreed to meet the most handsome man paired with a kind, caring, and loving personality…and the sense of humor that just doesn’t quit. And what would have been the biggest shock to me at the time is knowing I would eventually marry him. Fast forward to the end of band camp, there's always a friends and family show to perform what we had learned over the course of camp. I'd told Brent I would meet Timmy that night, after he already said he invited him. I wasn't nervous because I was focused on the performance and would have time to prepare to meet him after, or so I thought. On that day, there was some downtime in between rehearsal and the performance. Brent invited a friend and I over to his house to hang out during our break. After about twenty minutes of conversation, I heard a knock on the door and wondered who that could be. Before this mystery person came inside, Brent looked at me and said that's him. It was that moment when I almost had a heart attack. I was about to panic. He then walked in and saw me first because I was on the couch closest to the door. I looked like a goober in my band outfit and thought “well this is just great” (sarcasm obviously). I saw him and his cute little mustache. He had on a tank top, shorts, and a gray hat worn backwards. As he approached me, I didn't know what to do with myself when a man as tall as him was looking down on me and shaking my hand. (Please no one ask him about my embarrassing handshakes). He then sat on the couch and managed to crack lots of jokes, which I most definitely chuckled (Timmy: she cackled) at, a little too loudly. I had no idea what would be the result of meeting Timmy, but I was pleasantly surprised to see what came next. Timmy:  The next day I messaged her with some unfunny joke about her car’s extended warranty and we started texting…rarely. The next month we went for a walk in the park at Riverside and talked for almost three whole hours about ourselves. Mikayla:  Our walk was eventful, yet odd. It was interesting to see someone I barely knew being vulnerable with me and sharing about his family, not knowing that I would meet them a few months later. This prompted me to share details about myself and my family as well. It was easy to speak with Timmy and I was sharing a few things I never thought I'd share the first time spending time with someone. On the walk, we were watching lots of geese. I shared my dark history with geese, which ultimately led to my fear of them. There was one goose fairly close to us and I had to prove to Timmy that I was either strong or just stubborn, you decide (but most definitely stubborn). I told him I could fight the goose and win. So naturally, I walked up to this goose acting all tough. I got within a couple feet of it and realized this guy was not playing. He started ruffling his feathers and began getting closer to me, all while having a death glare in his eyes. Of course, I got scared and decided to back out of the fight. Timmy knew it wasn't going well so he claims (to this day) to have saved my life, all by just putting an arm in front of me to say, you might want to step back. Anyway, at the time, I had shared with Timmy that I just wanted to be friends and didn't want to pursue a relationship, though that's what it felt like Brent was trying to set us up for. I told him things were complicated with another boy who had left my life before, but unexpectedly came back. His response was something that stuck with me. It wasn't a response of jealousy or immaturity; instead, it was a comical, yet promising response that immediately had me going home to share with my best friend, who would become my maid of honor sooner than I could have imagined. Referencing the mystery boy I’d shared about, Timmy had responded with, that's okay, I'll just wait for him to leave again. And he did exactly that. Timmy:  After our walk, as I opened the car door for her, I asked if she “would like to do this again sometime.” Before I finished saying sometime she responded with a hurried, “Yes.” A month later, (you guys seeing a trend here?), we were still talking here and there, but casually and in a friendly way. It was very important to me not to make her feel pressured, as I wanted to be her friend first, hoping to demonstrate that her value to me stemmed beyond just the possibility of a romantic partner. I also wanted to be a person for her that would be a pleasure to just be around and talk to. Looking for any way to demonstrate how interested I was in her without making her feel like I wasn’t willing to wait on her timing, I crafted a “best buddy resume” after she made a comment about wanting a best buddy to go on adventures with. My resume included my array of skills such as, “mustache” and can crack a windshield with my noggin.” This resume has led to twenty long email chains and multiple professional documents exchanged between the two of us. I apparently work for her now, and she works for me?? On our next date that wasn’t a date in October, we ended up playing disc golf at Riverbend park and talking about my resume. When I asked about how things were going with this mysterious boy, whom I fondly referred to as “Mr. Right”, she replied that they weren’t going at all. Instead, he had ghosted her yet again, and it turns out anyone who knew of him could have told her (and they did) that he couldn’t have been further from his title that I gave him. When we got around hole 15 and were in a wooded area, Mik started claiming she could beat me up (kind of like the goose she swore she could fight the last time we hung out). She was asking about Jiu Jitsu and my competitions, but for some reason, she felt the need to make outrageous claims for a five foot two lady. I laughed it off and went to throw my putter, but when I looked at her she was standing there expectantly with the widest grin on her face. Shaking my head I thought to myself, “No way. There is no way this girl wants me to take her down and wrestle her in the woods, alone. I am not that kind of guy to just wrastle a girl I am just getting to know alone in the woods.” But after taking a second to look at her still beaming at me, it was like she was almost daring me to go over there. Then I said, I have to throw my putter, I cant come over there because I am supposed to play it where it lies…” She replied quickly, “Okay, and?” Naturally, I had to go over there and defend my honor right? After showing her how to start a match, with a slap bump, I got into my stance. Mik immediately recoiled out of fear but still had that silly grin on her face. Taking advantage of her unpreparedness I shot a sick single leg takedown on her and dumped her in the grass. She was laughing the entire way down. Avoiding the practical next move of mounting her and getting myself into trouble, I moved to a position called knee-on-belly. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. My knee on her belly caused a strange sound to emanate from her gut…to this day she claims it wasn’t a fart. Mikayla:  I like to pick fights for an unknown reason (Timmy: it’s a known reason: she talks big for such a little lady). My ego tells me I can win, but I have been proved wrong time and time again. Now, he’s a big boy, but I didn't really know just how big until he walked up to fight me and I had to cow down to him. I backed up almost immediately because I knew this was not going to end well for me. I was right. I lost a fight, but in the most gentle way. I didn't even see the single leg takedown coming. He grabbed my leg before I had a chance to react. I expected a hard fall to the ground, but he gently took me down to make sure I was safe (a good predictor of how he'd handle me in the future). What came next, though, was anything but gentle. He went to knee-on-belly, as you know. I was laughing the whole time, but then I felt my entire stomach shift under the pressure of his knee. It was an odd feeling, one I'd never felt before. I, in fact, did not fart, but my stomach did make a funky noise that could be mistaken for a fart. I was immediately embarrassed because I knew it would be hard to convince him that I didn't actually fart. It took months to get him to admit he believed me, but he did, so don’t be fooled. Timmy:  On the ride home, though I did not know how she felt about me I had a feeling that I was doing okay and maybe had a shot with this girl. I went to ask her if she wanted to do this again sometime but unlike the original response to the question she paused… Mikayla:  Our day playing disc golf was wonderful. After that, I knew that he was the perfect person for me and I needed to date him. When he asked about hanging out again sometime, I hesitated intentionally. Of course I wanted to go out again, but I was pretty certain that I was learning to like him as more than just a friend. I can’t exactly describe how I was feeling, but I just felt very connected with Timmy. There’d never been a dull moment; he kept me smiling, laughing, and feeling adventurous. I really admired his love for his friends, family, and faith. I hesitated on my response though because I knew what would come next, and he didn’t. Coming up, I had a band performance at a football game that was a family and friends tailgate. I wanted him to come, but I knew my family would be there as well. I didn't want to scare him off by asking him to meet my family before we were even dating, since we hadn't approached that topic yet. Therefore, I hesitated when responding to his question because I was about to bring this up. After having the conversation, he agreed to use a vacation day on me to come see me perform, meet my family, and then go to the Mansfield Haunted Reformatory that night. At the Reformatory that night, he held my hand to lead me down a pitch dark hallway filled with actors, but let go after we came to some light. That night was the first time we held hands, and I was crazy for thinking we would never do it again. Now I get a partner to hold my hand for the rest of my life. Timmy:  After several long conversations about what we wanted out of a relationship and a future together, we started dating on November 11, 2023. We shared our first Christmas together, and with each passing date and phone call, I realized that this woman was God’s gift to me. She is like God put an angel on earth just for me, and I aim to be her angel. Mikayla: Around Christmas time, Timmy came down to see my hometown for the first time. We had a wonderful couple of days, but I knew I'd miss him while I was home for New Year's without him. He said he couldn't take off work since that's a busy holiday for him. On New Year's Eve, I sat in my PJ'S all day, knowing we weren't having any company. While I was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading my Bible and talking to my brother, I heard the front door start to open. I wondered how my dad got to that door so quickly after just walking by a couple minutes before. Amidst my conversation with my brother, in walked Timmy. I quickly became nervous because I don’t do too well with surprises, and I asked him what he was doing there, but then wrapped him in a big hug. I was so shocked to see that he was able to get off work and then drove two hours just to come see me. Timmy:  (Shout out to my good friend and boss Josh for letting me take the vacation day. Thank you Josh). Mikayla: Later that evening, we were just sitting on the couch and he asked my dad about his New Year's resolution. My dad cracked some joke about wanting to learn to like beer more. After my dad got up Timmy then asked me what my resolution was. I threw out the resolution I have every year of wanting to work out more, but I knew that was something that I truly didn't care about compared to what I was about to say. When I looked into his eyes, I melted a little more than usual and without thinking, I told him I wanted to get engaged this year. Without any surprise, he shared with me that we were, yet again, on the same page. Timmy:  We began discussing getting married, and on March 10, 2024 I got on one knee and asked her to be my wife. Her reaction was so precious; when I kneeled down she exclaimed, “NO WAY!” with that beautiful grin on her face. I didn’t even get a chance to finish asking her because she rushed me with a hug mid sentence before I got out “be my wife?” She said yes though, after I finally got the chance to finish asking. Mikayla:  My sweet Timothy Miles, while he may think he was sneaky, he definitely wasn’t. And neither were all the people that knew he was going to propose. There were several hints that made me believe he was going to propose on March 10th, including my best friends need to check on how my nails were doing several times, the excitement from his dad, the not so subtle comments from Timmy as I poked for answers, and the way Brent asked me what time our concert was as if he hadn’t been present for every 3pm concert for the last four years of college. On March 9th, I was getting very nervous and excited at the same time. I couldn’t stop talking about it to anyone that would listen. My band had a dress rehearsal to prepare for the next day’s concert, and I spent quite some time talking about Timmy and the hints I’ve been getting that he was going to propose to anyone who would listen. Before the rehearsal was over, half of the trumpet section was also suspicious of the tomfoolery going on. The next day, we planned on going back to the place of our disc golf date to play disc golf with Brent and his wife, Lydia. The weather was beautiful and warm that entire week leading up to, but that Sunday, it turned cold and snowy again, so we decided to go for a walk instead of playing disc golf. Yet again, this was another hint to lead me to think he was proposing. He knows I don’t like cold weather because I’m always shivering in the winter, but he was still very determined to go for a walk. He could have canceled entirely to keep me warm inside, but no, that wasn’t acceptable. Regardless, I still thought for sure he was proposing on the 10th, so I was okay with bearing the cold for a while. On that Sunday, I woke up so nervous. He made an off handed comment about not getting too much sleep the night before, and said, “Let’s just not go. We can cancel on Brent and Lydia.” My hopes were shot down so quickly. I thought I was crazy for creating this scenario of being proposed to for the past several weeks. Timmy: I said this to throw her off the scent, and boy it worked. I saw the life leave her eyes. Hilarious. Mikayla:  Anyway, the jig was up when we all got in the car to head to the park and Timmy said he forgot his water inside, but took at least five minutes to get a bottle of water from the house. What was he doing in there? Throwing up was the right answer if you were guessing. He then came out of the house to get in the car. He was very pale as if he wasn't feeling well. He didn’t say much of anything on the way there and I could tell he was almost in a panic. Timmy:  I’m a nervous puker, hopefully that doesn’t show up in October. Mikayla:  When we got there, we began going for a walk and for the first time in Timmy’s life, he was silent for a minute. I think he was trying to decide where the best place was to go. The goal on this date was to get rocks to paint, which is something we enjoy doing together to help remember our dates. So we ended up going for a walk towards a bridge. We wandered underneath the bridge and started picking up a few rocks that we might be able to paint. I know it was cold and all, but I found it odd when Timmy kept a single hand in his pocket the entire time we were under the bridge, especially because he was too tall to stand under the bridge without ducking. Again, he was really silent, so I knew something was up. Once we found our rocks, we walked up to the center of the bridge, but this time Brent and Lydia didn’t follow us. I saw Lydia pull out her phone when we got to the bridge, and I knew it would be for photos. I’m not always the most observant person, especially when I’m around Timmy because I can only focus on him; however, I saw everything that day and I mean everything. In the center of the bridge, Timmy looked adorable, yet awkward because he stood there for a few seconds too long saying nothing…unusual. Then he finally got down on one knee and said something along the lines of “I know we just got rocks, but I have a better rock for you.” Cheesy, I know, but it was absolutely perfect. To this day, I still don’t know exactly what he said because I was hearing almost nothing. I was in too much of a daze to know what was even happening. I didn’t even let him finish asking me before I pulled him into a hug and wouldn’t let go. He hugged me back but then moved me back so he could look at me and said “can I finish?” Rude, right? Well then he finished asking me to be his wife. Spoiler alert, I said yes. Then I told him I had something for him. In the coat pocket I was wearing, I’d been carrying around a ring I bought him a week before waiting for him to propose. As I rummaged through my pocket, Timmy waited patiently for me, like he usually does because I’m always behind. I pulled out a ring for him and tried to ask him if he would marry me back, and I fumbled over every word and couldn’t even say the sentence. To save me some embarrassment, Timmy just stopped me and said “….yeah..” with a chuckle. Thank God. This was another reminder that we are always on the same page. I was floating on cloud nine for the rest of…well I’m still floating on cloud nine, so I can’t even say it was just the day we got engaged. But then, I had a concert to get to that day. I was almost late, but I had the most beautiful excuse. When I got to the concert to warm up, half of the trumpet section just stared at me with big fish eyes, obviously wanting to question if my hunch was right. I didn’t say a word. All I did was flash a smile and hold up my hand. Everyone was so excited and I seemed to get a lot of congratulations that day. I spent that whole concert looking up in the audience to stare at my new fiancé, as well as staring at my beautiful new ring. Timmy:  After we get married this October, we plan to live in Findlay until Mik finishes her BA in Criminal Justice, and looks for a job in her field. She would like to begin her MA in Business Administration, as well. Timothy plans to continue working as the community outreach coordinator, hiring manager, and kitchen manager at Heavenly Pizza as he pursues a career as a financial advisor and Mik decides what she wants to do with her degree.