Every year Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA), an organization within Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTC), holds a picnic in August for new medical students to come and connect with older medical students and faculty. I was fortunate enough to be at the 2018 picnic where I got to meet Quinn.

Quinn and I just started out as acquaintances. I was starting my third year of medical school, marked by rotation within the hospital, and Quinn was trying to figure out how to best manage all the craziness of medical school. So really, we only saw each other once a week at the weekly CMDA bible study.

Okay... now the story gets better...

**Fast forward 7 months to late February/early March**

During one of the last Fridays of February, all of the medical students are required to go to a research event at VTC. Food is provided, so naturally all the medical students congregate by the food given our impressively depressing financial situation. I saw Quinn lining up by the hors d'oeuvres so I walked over and started talking to her. We had an awesome, and surprisingly deep conversation about life, family and faith.

The next day, Quinn was flying out to Florida to visit a friend and I was looking for a reason to keep talking to her while she was traveling. So I started texting her about "The Enneagram" (a model of the human psyche used to type personalities into 9 groups), which is something she really likes. We talked about The Enneagram over the next week or so ( I really squeezed The Enneagram for everything it had so we could keep talking).

When Quinn got back to Roanoke, I kept trying to come up with ways for us to hangout and see each other (I was still rotating through the hospital and didn't have much social time). Some of my strategies included having her take my blood pressure and studying in the library next to her.

After about a month of weak attempts to hang out (now mid to late March), I got her to come over to my house to help me prepare a dinner for my neighbors who were coming over that night. We ran to the store to get groceries and then came back to my house to start cooking

.**We're standing in the kitchen when it happens**

Quinn looks at me and says, "What are you doing? What are your intentions with me?"

This is a defining moment in our story... I had never experience such a power move like that before... I mean think about it... This was the beginning of the night and she was stuck at my house (I drove). She didn't know what I was going to say. I was so impressed by her boldness.

I told her that I liked her and was interested in dating her, but not at that moment. That I still needed some time and she concurred. I knew, however, right when she asked me that question, that I was going to do everything in my power to date her (or at least that's what I told her).

What I told her wasn't true though... My real thought in that moment was that I was going to do everything in my power to marry her. I knew before we even started officially dating that I wanted to marry her.

On April 13th, two weeks later, we started dating.

Quinn is such a beautiful woman for so many reasons, but I'll list only 3 (although I could be here writing all day...)

First and foremost, she absolutely loves Jesus Christ which is so amazing. She recognizes that she cannot save herself through her intellect or abilities. That she is fundamentally flawed, but Jesus, who died for her, isn't and for that reasons has trusted Him to save her.

Secondly, she is so talented. She is very smart, curious and has a high E.Q. which allows her to navigate social situations quite well.

Thirdly, she is beautiful inside and out. It's rare to find someone who has such a strong moral fortitude and character, and who is also so pretty.

I'm so excited for you all to join us on our wedding day as we celebrate and look forward to what comes next.

Stephen and I first met at the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) welcome picnic at the beginning of my first year of med school. Other than his clear desire to make the new students feel welcome and his apparent involvement in CMDA, the only thing I remember about him from that day was that he wore short shorts and looked cool playing football (the important things). A few weeks later, when he hosted a pancake breakfast for the first years to get to know us better, I left thinking, "Hm, that's a cool guy." I had only gotten a glimpse of how intentional and encouraging he was, but it was extremely clear how deeply ingrained those qualities were in him. It never crossed my mind that I might date this guy.

Over the next couple of months, we saw each other regularly at CMDA bible study and I grew to appreciate what an integral member he was. Somewhere in those months, there was a time I saw him in the library while we were both studying and for the first time thought, "Huh, is he cute?" I quickly dismissed the thought, but those good looks obviously didn't just vanish.

The next spring, there was a day in the library where he asked me to take his blood pressure. My first thought was, “Wow, a real medical emergency and I am still trying to figure out what the heart looks like, but this is urgent, so let’s go.” Then I started to realize there were clearly more qualified people in the library to complete this task and I thought to myself, “Wait a minute, this blood pressure reading might not be all about the blood pressure reading.” Over the next couple weeks there were several more “wait a minute” moments as I slowly caught on. I even gave him a "wait a minute" moment myself with a quick hug in a buffet line that bordered somewhere between a normal hug and a very platonic side hug. I guess it worked because he challenged me to a “worm-off” just an hour later? It still hasn’t happened though, so maybe we’ll do it May 23rd and you all can join the competition.

We continued to see each other in bible study, we learned about each other’s strengths finder profiles and enneagram numbers, we went to Lowes and built things, and he provided me with a lot of Starbucks and Eggo waffles. I decided this certainly was not just normal interaction and, after talking to a friend from med school, I decided to call him on it and see if this was going somewhere or nowhere. So one night when we were making dinner for his neighbors, I did. In some jumbled mush of words I said something like, “This isn’t normal…intentions…what are they…with me…are you…do you have them? intentions?” Thankfully he jumped in and explained that he perhaps did.

A week later we went on our first date and on some cold bench on the greenway we talked about and prayed over our relationship.

Then, seven months later, we found ourselves again on that same cold bench on the greenway. The only differences this time were that it was slightly drizzling, Stephen had one wet knee, and we were talking about and praying over our marriage together.

I love so many things about Stephen and could not be more excited to be marrying him. I have seen so clearly how everything about him is rooted in his very genuine faith. He is intentional with everything he does. He wants to know the people around him and wants to help them feel known. He is always growing and is constantly searching for ways to improve himself and executing them. He serves sacrificially. He commits to people, responsibilities, and relationships. He is thoughtful and supportive - identifying and meeting the needs of people around him. And, yes, he is in fact cute. Extremely handsome, actually.