— First Encounter: Sam and Gabe attended Southern Adventist University together and met in September of 2020. After texting back and forth for a while, they decided to have a "first date" up at the universities local eatery The Village Market, where they ended up talking for almost three hours.

— The Start of Something Special: There was an instant fascination between Gabe and Sam but it was no "love at first sight" reaction often seen in movies. However, there was an undeniable attraction between the two that led to them texting or calling each other every day for the next few months.

— Meeting Mariella [Sam's Mother]: Before Gabe came over to visit Sam's house for the first time, Gabe went to Mariella's office, which at the time was on Southern's campus. Gabe conveyed his interest in Sam to Mariella, and emphasized that he was not here to mess around, but rather to establish a good friendship with Samantha and to see where God would lead the relationship.

— More than Friends: Sam and Gabe starting hanging out almost every day. Most evenings were spent walking around the school campus and the Collegedale greenway, or watching movies on campus. It became evident that Gabe and Samantha's interest in each other was blossoming into more than just a friendship.

— November 21st, 2020: On November 20, 2020 Samantha's cat Rocco had unexpectedly passed away and Gabriel thought the next day as the perfect time to ask an emotional Samantha to officially be his girlfriend. Samantha still laughs at Gabe's "perfect timing." With the support of Samantha's family, and the two of them were excited for what the future held. Soon afterwards, the couple drove down to Dallas, TX for Thanksgiving where Gabe first met Samantha's father, Matt Loewen, as well as many of family members.

— Highlights Over the Next Three Years: While a whole book could be filled with the adventures that Sam and Gabe had from 2021 to 2024, here are the highlights that are most memorable to them:

• Concerts — Gabe and Sam share a love of music, and have enjoyed going to many concerts and musicals such as All Time Low, 5 Seconds of Summer, Anastasia, The Chattanooga Symphony, and most recently The Nashville Symphony.

• Road Trips — The couple as traveled out of Tennessee for many exciting road trips to destinations such as Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and many places in Texas.

• Schooling — In December of 2022 Gabriel graduated from Southern with a BS in Business Administration, and in May of 2023 he started his master's degree in Human Resource Management. Samantha graduated in May of 2023 from Southern with a BBA in Accounting.

— The Big Question: In September 2023, Gabe asked Sam's parents for their blessing. Mariella gave Gabriel some old rings for him to use different parts of, and with the help of a jeweler, Gabe designed a ring for Samantha. Sam had always dropped subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) hints that she wanted a green emerald incorporated somehow into the ring.

Gabe had originally planned to propose during the upcoming Christmas vacation to Colorado. But once Samantha started to suspect that he would propose then, Gabe decided to do his best to make it a surprise by proposing earlier than expected. On the evening of December the 16th, Gabriel got down on one knee, on the roof of the his corporate office, looking out over the city of Chattanooga, he asked the biggest question of his life, to the love of his life. One line from his proposal speech that Samantha loves is “Even when we’re a thousand miles away from our house, I still feel at home with I’m with you.“

— What's Next for the Newly Weds: Gabe, Samantha, Dimitri and Sasha (Sam's cats), and Cooper (Gabe's dog) will be moving to wherever Samantha chooses to go to law school. Currently, it seems that Pittsburgh is the top choice but that could change by the time of the wedding! Gabe plans on pursuing his Ph.D in Organizational Behavior after his masters full-time so Samantha and him will be done with schooling at the same time.

Travel coming soon!