The Start
Sam and Garrett met on a charter bus headed to Glorieta, New Mexico as leaders for their churches middle school student camp. Sam sat behind Garrett on the bus and has actual text receipts from her and her best friend’s texting chain saying “I don’t know who this guy is sitting in front of me, but… 👀”. Sharing a mutual love for God (and to their first convo surprise- for Jonathan “JP” Pokluda’s podcast Becoming Something… WE KNOW! how niche!!!), they sparked conversation on the bus and shared small interactions at camp. After serving together in the fall on Sunday mornings, Garrett asks Sam to coffee in January. The picture above is from the second year Sam and Garrett served students at camp together and they continue to serve in student ministry with their friends and mentors.
The overseas adventure
Sam and Garrett had TONS of fun this last year of life together, and a big part of that was their trip to Germany in December of 2023. One of Sam’s dear friends, KJ, that she met early in her college years, is married to a military man. After about a year of marriage, KJ moved to Germany to be with her husband. At this point, Sam and Garrett were a couple months into dating, and Sam knew her priority was to make it to Germany to see KJ while she was there. 2 passports, 2 plane tickets, and many airbnb and train ticket bookings later, Sam and Garrett took off to Europe in mid December. They had the privilege of utilizing the vehicle KJ and Shawn owned in Germany and were able to travel all around in Germany and in other countries. Making their first stop in Prague, Czech Republic, they were blown away by all the history and architecture that is so prevalent in European countries. They enjoyed their time in small town German Christmas markets, eating German food, and drinking a Christmas time German special, mulled wine! KJ, Shawn, Sam, and Garrett hopped on a train to France to get on another train to London, England. They had a quick stop in at the Eiffel tower, and were on their way to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the House of Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and many many other once in a lifetime things. Traveling with your significant other is a whole different kind of ball game (as many of you know) and Sam and Garrett enjoyed their time getting to spend time with their friends, travel, and learn to jive with each other when the stress is high ;) !!!
The Engagement
Shortly after a year of dating, Garrett got down on a knee in their first date spot, a coffee shop called Monomyth in Lubbock. All the friends and family joined afterwards. Much to Sam’s surprise was all of this, as she’d been giving Garrett a hard time for a little while at this point. They enjoyed a night with their friends and family at The Blue Light, a classic Lubbock music bar. Much of Sam and Garrett’s time is spent with friends around a table, enjoying engaged life together. They are thrilled to start this next chapter of their lives!
ALL THE IN BETWEEN
Thanks for catching up! So many fun things for Sam and Garrett have happened in the past year with Garrett graduating nursing school in May of 2023 and starting full time in the pediatric ICU at a hospital in Lubbock. Sam was accepted into chiropractic school and graduated with her bachelors degree in August of 2024. Their engagement, so many friends to support in their marriages and celebrations, family events and festivities, and many, many more things have provided much excitement and joy! Thank you for your love and support as Garrett and Sam step into this new season of life together!
