I am sure everyone is wondering how I met Ashley. You may be thinking: it’s a story of two star crossed odd individuals, clashing North and South Indians, who happened to bump into each other, met each other's eyes, and fell in love at first sight. Nope. I met Ashley online. Plain and simple. Started with simple chat messages, plenty of laughs and tons of skepticism. Progressed to long video chats. What got me really interested in her, is her resolve in the values she holds dear. Values that I hold dear as well, values that come with knowing the God of the Bible and holding true to those values. Having pretty harmonious personalities was also a plus. This led me to ask her on our first date to a nice Italian restaurant. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, was nervous and still somewhat skeptical and expectations were low. When I first saw her, she was shorter than what I expected, but she had this regal composure in the way she spoke and held herself, which got me interested. Laughed, talked, had some fun time with our Italian waiter and moved to take a walk at the rose garden. Safe to say, I didn’t impress her with my botanical knowledge of roses, but she laughed a lot. Let me tell you, when she smiled and laughed, it was the most beautiful thing. In my mind I thought, If God willing, I want to make her smile as long as I can. And we have been together since.

You know, I didn’t really have much hope when it came to online dating. It was frustrating and I was just tired of it all hoping that one day someone will surprise me (in a good way). It all started with a boy matching with a girl and next thing I know, I’m scrambling to write up something for this wedding website. The story is simple. We texted, had one phone call which then turned into a series of long video calls. In our first conversation together, he had asked me a simple question: what made me fall in love with God? This was the first step of me realizing there’s so much more here between Shanu and I and through every conversation, I learned more about him and his values, and ultimately learned more about God and what He has intended for us. His never-ending desire to learn, compassion for others, the will to do God’s work, and even his corny jokes, made me fall in love with him. Our first date was at an Italian restaurant. He arrived there before me and was already seated as I walked in. When he saw me, he stood up, and it was then I realized how short I was. There were plenty of awkward moments of me looking away not making eye contact or fumbling with my hands under the table. What can I say, I was nervous ha. But he had a calming presence and soon he had me laughing. We spent the rest of the day together at the Rose Garden and continued laughing and getting to know each other. This guy actually asked my permission to hold my hand which had me cracking up but I thought it was endearing. I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all. I wanted someone that will pray for me when I need it most and remind me of God’s promises when I’m most vulnerable and I can confidently say I found my person. He showed me what it felt like to be pursued and eventually over time, what it felt like to be loved. I thank God every day for this man and so look forward to the day I can call him my husband.