Like a classic Gen-Z love story, Arwen and I met through GCU's Class of 2025 Instagram page during our senior year of high school. It started off as a friendly conversation about some shared interests and slowly grew to longer conversations and eventually feelings for each other. Our first date was dinner in our rooms over FaceTime!

We met in-person for the first time when we were visiting GCU in February of 2021. From there we knew that we were definitely interested in each other, and officially started dating the summer before our freshman year of college. Somehow we were able to convince our parents to let Arwen fly out to visit me in San Diego for a few days.

The distance that we experienced during that first year of knowing each other allowed us to build a deep friendship without the pressures of dating in person. I truly believe this is a reason that we've grown to love each other so well in our relationship. Throughout college we had the blessing of getting to go on so many adventures together and bond in the outdoors. We also got the experience of being coworkers and teammates for GCU's Outdoor Rec program. This taught us how to work well together and serve one another in the more mundane, day-to-day parts of life.

All of that came to a head when I got injured in the summer of 2023 while working in Buena Vista. Arwen dropped everything and came to support my family and I by serving around the house and helping me at a really low point in my life. This was the moment where I knew that she was the one.

Arwen here! Nathan doesn't believe me when I say this, but I always had a little feeling that him and I were going to work out. There was never a single moment where I knew Nathan was the man I wanted to marry, but a series of moments over the course of our relationship that continued to confirm that little feeling. His loyalty, patience, commitment to his relationship with Jesus, his love for others and his servant-heart all showed me that he was the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with!

We got engaged on September 28, 2024. Nathan planned it thoughtfully, creating a moment that reflected us as a couple. Our closest friends and family gathered to celebrate that night, and I was truly grateful! I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with him