Meant to be will always find a way. I was working at Panera Bread at the time with Gabe’s old brother Nathaniel. He was being goofy one night and decided to call Gabe to try to set us up. We exchanged snapchats, and started talking. At that moment in time, neither of us had the intention of wanting to date anyone, but looking back on it now, I’m so thankful God had other plans. We quickly began to realize how much we had in common and it was borderline scary if I'm being honest. It felt so natural to talk to each other and after only a few days, it felt as though I had known Gabe my whole life. I prayed that night and asked God to give me clarity / show me if this was the man I had been waiting for. 2 days later, we met for the first time in person. Nathaniel, Gabe, and I sat in the dairy queen parking lot for hours laughing and talking. Later that night, I went to their house to hangout and that’s when I secretly snapped this picture. I was so shy and awkward, I barely even spoke to Gabe directly the whole night, but I made sure to take this picture to remember the day. He didn’t know it at the time, but I went home that night and showed my mom and all of my friends this picture of him. I rambled on and on about how much I liked him and how he seemed “different than other guys”. My best friend told me that night that I seemed happy for the first time in a long time.. and little did I know, Gabe and I’s story was only just beginning. Little did I know I would get to experience a happiness like that for a lifetime.

Gabe asked me to be his girlfriend. Well, I guess I shouldn't say asked.. he said and I quote. "Oh by the way, you're my girlfriend now, you don't have a choice." If you asked him about it now he would probably tell you he has "W Rizz", or something along the lines of that.

Gabe attempting to teach me his favorite sport (didn't work out very well).

When I took Gabe to his first haunted house.

Gave each other Covid, oops. Relationship goals?

Our senior pictures we did together.

Our first church conference together (Thrive).

I guess he wasn’t wrong..

Our first Christmas together ! I got to go with for Gabe’s family tradition of cutting down the tree.

Youth Awards Night at church :) we got to dress up and look all fancy.

Gabe’s senior night for basketball.

Our first vacation together !! Niagara Falls.

Our first Easter together :)

Junior / Senior banquet <3 we clean up pretty nice.

YAYY, we both graduated !!

note taken ;)

Our first Fourth of July together ! I got to experience how patriotic Gabe truly is and it’s still one of my favorite things about him.

One year down , forever to go ❤️

Devils Lake trip.

Our second vacation together , this time to Florida.

Our annual apple orchard date & favorite time of year.

Pumpkin carving. Of course we chose Marvel and Merica’.

Our second Thrive conference together. I love how raw this photo is. With Gabe being a children’s pastor, there’s not many moments we get to spend in service together. I always cherish the rare times we get to worship beside one another.

Our second Christmas together.

New years !! We traveled to Atlanta for the Passion Conference that year and it was an unforgettable experience.

Our second Easter together.

Watching the sunset started as one of my favorite hobbies and slowly became our hobby.

Our 2 year anniversary ❤️ we hiked 4 or 5 miles that day at Starved Rock.

My favorite wedding date :)

Fun fact: Gabe was going to propose to me on this day, but I accidentally found out before he got the chance to oops...

I still think Carhartt should have sponsored us for this photoshoot.. Carhartt, if you’re seeing this, it’s not too late ;)

Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. It was absolutely freezing this day, but it was still a blast.

Our third Christmas together.

We loved the Passion Conference in Atlanta so much the first year, we had to come back a second year. It was just as amazing.

Lots of birthdays spent together.

Our third Easter together.

Our first concert together!!

He proposed !! The day I was waiting for my whole life was finally here. I still can’t believe I get to spend forever with my best friend.

If you made it til the end, thank you for reading our story. We can’t wait to bring you all along on our journey of forever together. Here’s to the future as Groebners!! We are so beyond excited for September 14th.