It all started with a prank.

Shae and I first met through some of our best mutual friends. It was a rainy day and Shae was house sitting for our friends who were out of town. So naturally I should go play a prank on her. Not knowing her I proceed to show up dressed as a construction worker to Jake and Michele’s house. I was breaking the news that the power was going to be shut off because the house was now under construction. Luckily she found the prank just as amusing as the rest of us did and so it began.

When I left that day I thought to myself I really want to get to know this person more. Luckily for me, Jake and Michele set us up to go to a concert a few weeks later, all the while not knowing that we would both be attending this concert. After a night of good company, mechanical bull riding, and a rickshaw ride through the city, it was safe to say that I was starting to fall in love.

After that night I knew there was something special in store for us. We gradually started going on dates which included finding the unique dinner spots, attending the local rodeo, and after church lunches. Shae then started introducing me to her friends and the community she has created which little did I know would become a huge part of our lives together.

Over the next several months we grew closer and closer growing together in our walk with the Lord and how we are able to serve our community and each other. It was very clear that Shae was going to be the person that I marry.

We wanted to make it a full year of dating through all the seasons literally and figuratively before becoming engaged. Through that year we grew close with each other’s families and friends in ways we couldn’t have imagined and watched God start to really bless our relationship and watch it flourish.

Then in February I was able to play one last prank on Shae and propose to her in a way I don’t think she could have guessed. She thought we were fishing and boy was she wrong. She did say “Yes!” and we are so grateful to all of you and our community for the love and support we receive as we head into this next chapter of our lives.