Abbie and I were longtime friends and classmates in Chariton, and she stayed in touch with my sisters after we went off to college. Coming home during breaks from school, I’d occasionally see Abbie hanging out at our house. Naturally we began catching up and pretty soon we were “talking”. I probably owe some credit to our family friend, Poe, who never missed a chance to try getting me to pursue Abbie. We both went back to school for our senior year of college. I was playing hard to get because I didn’t want to make it too easy for Abbie, 😉 so we continued to grow in our relationship as a couple months went by through texting and long phone calls. Then, she stopped by Indianola on October 13th, 2017 and I gave her a tour of Simpson’s campus before asking her to be my girlfriend under the gazebo in nearby Buxton Park. It’s crazy to think that the girl I had dreamed about had actually been someone I’d known since the 2nd grade. When I arrived at Christian’s on May 31st, I opened his door to find flowers, as well as a note asking me to watch a video set up on his computer. (No surprise, there was a video involved, for anyone who’s seen his birthday videos on Facebook). He had set up a video of us/our family throughout our time dating, complete with a Justin Bieber song in the background (my other true love). It ended with him telling me to go to the fridge, where I found an iced coffee (he knows the way to my heart) along with a note telling me to meet him where it all started (Buxton Park). I found him waiting for me under the same gazebo he asked me to officially date him back in 2017! After he proposed, my sister Megan and his sister Ellie appeared (the secret photographers). We all drove back to Chariton where our families were waiting for us, ready to celebrate! For as long as I’ve known Christian, he’s been someone I've always admired. I’m thankful for him everyday and truly blessed to get to continue growing with him through our married life.