We first met at a young adult gathering through our church. It was a warm July evening filled with games, singing, and laughter around a bonfire. There was an immediate and undeniable connection between the two of us, and we spent nearly the entire night beside each other. We talked about our jobs, our likes and dislikes, and most importantly our relationship with God. Though we didn't start dating until much later the thought of the other was never far from our minds. -Seth Lowen

I finally texted Seth in January of 2020. I really wanted to see if there could be more to this feeling and I wanted to get to know him better. We started talking about what we want out of our lives, the familys we hope to have one day, and the careers we want to pursue. He wants to be an author and write fantasy novels. He already wrote his first book. I love fantasy so he let me read it. It's full of love, loss, action, and adventure. I read his book and loved it so much that I would sit down for hours after work and get lost in his world. When I finished his book I was so excited to talk to him about it. He said we should meet up for coffee and to talk about his book soon. Witch, I readily agreed to. I kept telling myself and the guys from work, that are so nosy, "It's just a cup of coffee." The book was a little bit of an excuse for us to finally go out. When we finally went on our first date we had so much fun. We talked about everything and after a few hours relized it was dinner time. So we decided on Idaho pizza and continued to talk between bites till 10 o'clock. One of the gentlemen I work with still jokes saying, "Just a cup of coffee?"

Though I had a very strong suspicion from the start that I would ask Alandra to marry me, I truly began to plan the official proposal after she and I returned from my older brother's wedding; I knew I couldn't wait any longer without her by my side. With my birthday coming up soon, I had an excuse to take Alandra up to McCall, Idaho, where I was raised, to pick huckleberries. Picking berries was always a family tradition of mine and I knew it would be the perfect cover for a proposal. With the ring purchased and the clothes packed, all that was left to do was keep my composure until the perfect moment arrived. I had informed my whole family of my plans and they were helping me to manufacture the best possible moment. It took a while before I found the right location, and after that everything fell into place. I called Alandra over under the ruse that I had found the largest huckleberry ever, but when I turned around and knelt to the ground it wasn't a berry that was held in my hands. In the anticipation of the moment, I failed to realize that the box the ring was in was upside down. After Alandra quickly corrected my mistake, much to my chagrin, I finished my speech. Without hesitation, she said yes and we pulled each other into a passionate embrace. After my family congratulated us, we walked off into the forest to pray together and ask that God bless our marriage. We were the happiest couple alive that day. - Seth Lowen