The Beach! (behind a private beach house)

Wedding Day

Wedding

Private Beach House

Reception

Our Wedding

Fall 2017: Phil & Melissa share mutual friends in Portland; they met &&nbsp;slowly got to know one another. 



Thanksgiving 2017: Phil (snuck)&nbsp;away ("to spend time with friends")&nbsp;after his&nbsp;family&nbsp;gatherings in Portland...&nbsp;&&nbsp;spent&nbsp;the evenings&nbsp;with&nbsp;Melissa.&nbsp;Thanksgiving night, they had a&nbsp;deep conversation about&nbsp;faith &&nbsp;spiritual warfare; when&nbsp;they look back, they&nbsp;cherish the vulnerability they were able to&nbsp;have&nbsp;with&nbsp;one another & how it rooted their relationship in Christ from the beginning. An unfortunate, yet in a way, "fortuitous," event occurred that night:&nbsp;Phil’s car (the car he’d borrowed from his sister & brother-in-law while in Portland) got towed!&nbsp;He had parked in the wrong space at Mel’s apartment building. In the wee hours of the morning,&nbsp;he was&nbsp;embarrassed to have to come back &&nbsp;knock on Mel's door to&nbsp;say the car was missing...&nbsp;& he may need to spend the night. After not getting to bed until 2:00am, Melissa had to get up&nbsp;early for&nbsp;a&nbsp;6:00am shift. It was an exhausting day, but their trust in each other grew exponentially; they had been&nbsp;launched into learning to&nbsp;work&nbsp;together through life's&nbsp;dilemmas.



















Winter break 2017-2018: Melissa left the Caribbean&nbsp;early after her work in Haiti & R&R in the Dominican... to (secretly)&nbsp;fly back &&nbsp;spend a belated holiday with&nbsp;Phil &&nbsp;see where he grew up.



















February 2018: They spent two weekends together &&nbsp;started introducing each other to friends... by the&nbsp;end of the second weekend,&nbsp;they had&nbsp;both individually&nbsp;realized&nbsp;they&nbsp;had fallen hard for one another.



















April 4, 2018: Melissa&nbsp;got up the courage to text a picture&nbsp;of herself&nbsp;next to a tile mosaic wall in&nbsp;Brazil&nbsp;that said, “Te amo.” (“I love you” in Portuguese).&nbsp;Phil acted coy &&nbsp;inquired what it meant; Mel reminded him he had google at his disposal. He said he’d already used it & that&nbsp;he got the chills & felt all warm inside when he read&nbsp;the translation.



















April 20, 2018: This was the&nbsp;first day they saw each other after Melissa was back in the country:&nbsp;they told each other “I love you” in person.



















July 2018: Melissa met Phil’s parents. Then, while staying with&nbsp;Phil & studying for Boards, Mel asked Phil (jokingly), "What are your intentions with me?" ;) He said, “To tell you I love you every day for the rest of my life.”



















August 2018: Phil & Mel took their first adventure together to Hawaii, before her internship started. He met her parents, who &nbsp;came to visit while they were there.



















Winter break 2018-2019: Melissa spent the holiday&nbsp;working&nbsp;in a hospital in&nbsp;Ghana.&nbsp;While she enjoyed the work & all she learned, she&nbsp;realized she never&nbsp;wanted to spend a holiday away from Phil again.&nbsp;She also realized that&nbsp;she&nbsp;preferred traveling with&nbsp;him instead of traveling&nbsp;alone; this was a&nbsp;monumental realization for her.



















March 1, 2019: Phil asked Mel if she would marry him & she said, “Yes, please!” This was at Phil’s house, in a private moment while they were both getting over a cold &&nbsp;not feeling their best; they both had tears of joy in their eyes.



















Late March 2019: Phil flew home with&nbsp;Mel to see the farm where she grew up & the university where she attended undergrad. Her parents were so happy to get to spend time with them&nbsp;& celebrate their engagement.



















April 1, 2019: An immigration officer in Belize asked the couple if they had anything to declare.&nbsp;Phil said, “No.” The officer said, “What? Not even your love for one another?!” Without missing a beat, Phil said, “Oh! Ha! We did that a long time ago!”❤️

The Story of Our Courtship

Our Story

Details

Photos

Wedding Party

Q + A

Registry

This may be a fun option for those coming from out of state for multiple nights, as it provides several&nbsp;&nbsp;things to do during your stay&nbsp;(casino activities &&nbsp;golfing).

Chinook Winds Casino Resort

We are currently working to get a block of rooms at a reduced price from this facility.

Comfort Inn & Suites

There are LOTS of options available at all prices. This may be a good option for med students coming out as a group.

Philip & Melissa

Philip & Melissa

Travel

Chinook Winds Casino Resort

Comfort Inn & Suites

Air B & B