It all started at Camp Judson. The day Nathan and I met was just a normal day for me. I had seen an interesting looking cop car pull onto the dirt drive of Camp Judson, and immediately, I assumed that it was some family camper who was a car fanatic, or who was just “too-cool-for-school,” to drive a normal car, so they drove their old cop car to camp to impress their friends. I was silently judging this mystery camper, while at the same time, inside that car, Nathan was trying to figure out where to go and what to do. He had just been asked to work at Camp Judson, out of the blue, for the whole rest of the summer.

We were introduced to each other that day in the kitchen. Even though I didn’t pay much attention to him, I still thought he was kind of cute. I didn’t want to let myself be one of those girls who had a “camp crush,” though, so I kept it to myself and didn’t tell any of the other kitchen girls. Even though I was hiding my crush on Nathan and trying to ignore my feelings, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something special about him.

A few weeks flew by, and we got to know each other on a friendly level. We started to respect each other for who we were as people. But one day, a surprise party for one of our coworkers put our relationship in a different light. The camp staff planned an elaborate party, and I was put in charge of telling those decorating that the birthday boy was coming, so they could hide in time. So when he walked in, I yelled, “HIII!” and said his name, the same way I greeted all the kitchen girls. The birthday boy started to catch on that something was up, so I knew I had to do it to everyone who came through the kitchen doors, to make it more believable. Just to my luck, the next person who walked in the door was Nathan. I quickly yelled, “HIIII NATHAN!” Nathan responded with the same energy, yelling back, “HIII SARAH!!”, which made the birthday boy less suspicious, and caused a swarm of butterflies to dance in my stomach.

For the next couple of weeks, we continued to grow closer and deeper in our relationship. We talked whenever we got the chance, laughed at everything together, and started to want to be around each other all the time. But then I got into a pretty bad car accident. This should have put a pause on our relationship, as I dealt with the damage and all the aftermath, but instead, it brought us closer together than ever before. I never expected him to care for me as much as he did. He checked in on me throughout the days after my accident, chatted with me about it, and just made me feel like I had someone in my corner who was going to get me through it all. I never expected him to care this much about me, but his kind, caring heart truly proved me wrong.

Time continued to fly by, as it usually does, and our first summer drew to a close. Nathan and I had grown super close. We started to realize that maybe we were more than just coworkers, or even just friends. We saw that we had something special that neither of us was expecting to find that fateful summer day, when that cop car first pulled onto the dusty dirt drive.

On July 23, 2023, Nathan and I began our relationship. Unfortunately, Nathan lived in Winner, SD, while I lived in Rapid City, SD, causing us to start a long-distance relationship. While this caused a difficulty in our relationship, Nathan and I were determined to make it work. We are constantly on FaceTime, driving to one another during the weekends, and longing for the next time we get to work at Camp Judson.

Nathan and I had been dating for a year and four months when Nathan proposed on April 22, 2025. While I had a feeling that something was going to happen that day, I didn’t want to jinx myself with guessing that Nathan was going to propose. Nathan had set up a scavenger hunt around Winner’s City Park. At the end of the scavenger hunt, we were at the gazebo, his last clue said, “Give me your heart and I’ll give you the last clue.” At that point I had a more sure feeling that something was going to happen, but after the whole scavenger hunt around the park, I had slightly forgotten what could have been happening. Earlier in the day, Nathan had given me a wooden heart that he had carved and put it on my necklace. Little did I know that inside the wooden heart was the engagement ring.

Nathan and I are so excited to be getting married soon. We can not wait to be able to spend the rest of our lives together. We are so excited to see you all soon at our wedding! Get your dancing shoes on, because we are ready to party!!!