August 6, 2016

On Saturday morning, Rachel's friend, Ali, invited her to a bonfire. Rachel did not know many people who would be there, and was looking forward to a relaxed night of s'mores and making new friends.

Late Saturday afternoon, Jonathan's new roommates, Daryl and Jason, asked if he wanted to go to a bonfire. Jonathan had just moved in and was excited to see what the party was all about.

Rachel arrives at the bonfire and sees a familiar face. She sits next to Daryl and they started talking. Eventually, there was a seat open next to Rachel, which was soon occupied by a friendly, handsome guy ... Jonathan.

Rachel and Jonathan talked for a while until the night concluded. Rachel found out he was an organizer of a volleyball group that she was in on Facebook, but not an active participant throughout the summer. In fact, she hadn't gone to a single volleyball event. However, she saw that there was a game organized for the next day. "How convenient!" she thought. And, she went.

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Fast forward a few days, a mutual friend had a birthday party. Jonathan was sitting on the couch as Rachel walks by, and keeps walking as if she didn't see him. Rachel, however, was very aware of his presence, and hoped that he saw her as she continued on into another room. She found a cozy spot in a corner to sit and talked with one of her friends. All of a sudden, Jonathan makes a bee-line towards Rachel to join the conversation, which her friend excuses herself quickly. Jonathan mentions he was going to make cookies for church the next day and that Rachel should try them. Rachel loved the idea and then had a lightbulb go off in her head. She expressed to Jonathan that she doesn't have a way of knowing when and where to be in order to try the cookies. Hoping he would then ask her for her number, he followed her comment by stating that'd he'd text her, but needed her number in order to do so. She tried to hold back her excitement as she celebrated her sneaky scheme in her head.

The following day, Jonathan gave Rachel some of his warm, freshly-baked cookies. In that time, he also asked her if she interested in and available to grabbing some coffee. Rachel agreed and awaited his call for more details.

Coffee changes to dinner. Date? Not a date? It depends on who you ask! This is a great question and story to ask Rachel and Jonathan in person.

Through several other interactions as a result of being in the same friend circles, Jonathan and Rachel continued to see each other frequently. August was a full month of bonfires, birthday parties and volleyball. Towards the end of the month, Jonathan asks Rachel to go on a date to the state fair. She excitedly says yes and looks forward to the date. September 2nd arrives and they have a great time at the fair. However, that was not the end of the date. Jonathan takes Rachel to dinner and asks her to be his girlfriend.

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Their relationship journey continued and they learned many things about each other: personality, characteristics, interests. Through their adventure, they encountered many experiences that ultimately brought them closer together. This closeness evolved their feelings and they soon discovered they wanted to further their relationship to the next level of commitment.

R&J

Wedding Day

2:00 PM

Wedding

Reception