Tanya and James met their Sophomore year at Seattle University in the bible study group that met in their dorm. Tanya and their friend Justina had volunteered to bake an apple pie for a Thanksgiving dinner and they roped James into helping. The connection between them was instant!

They both became Younglife leaders when the club was established on campus, and spent time planning events, watching silly movies, and joking around, a lot! It wasn’t until their senior year that they realized that they had a crush on each other, and after some back and forth, they began dating shortly before graduation.

Right after they graduated, James went to Beyond Malibu (a Younglife camp) for three months where he lived in the Canadian wilderness with no phone, and led groups of students on weeklong backpacking trips through the mountains. The first few months of their relationship consisted of handwritten letters that took weeks to reach each other; it was very Dear John!

Right before James left for Beyond, they took a nighttime walk on the Alki board walk, and told each other they were in in it for the long haul. Two years later, under the guise that they were going to dinner on the board walk, James did a surprise proposal on the dock with both of their families in attendance! It was such a special moment revisiting the area where they had made a special commitment to each other, and getting to have their families with them to share in the special moment was a dream come true. They are so excited to spend the rest of their lives together, and look forward to celebrating with all of you!