The two met in March of 2022 while attending the young adult group at their church. They spoke briefly a time or two, but Brennen left soon after to spend the summer in Yellowstone National Park. Their paths wouldn’t cross again until later that year… It was a Sunday in October of 2022. The pastor at their church had encouraged the congregation to say hi to the person sitting behind them, and to strike up a conversation. Ashleigh was lucky enough to be in the back row, and Brennen was lucky enough to be sitting directly in front of her! They began talking after the service, and recalled briefly meeting each other several months prior. Brennen invited Ashleigh to join the young adult group at lunch that afternoon, and they spent the next few hours talking and getting to know each other more. There was a mutual, immediate interest on both sides, but they quietly knew they would need a bit more time before starting anything more than a friendship. Over the next couple of months they got to know each other more through church and young adult gatherings. A few days before Christmas of 2022, Brennen sent Ashleigh a very casual text asking if she would want to get lunch with him over the winter break. Of course Ashleigh said yes, and they went on what they refer to as their "ambiguous date." Brennen had not yet made his intentions clear, and Ashleigh was beginning to think that maybe Brennen just saw her as a friend. Although they had an awesome time getting lunch and talking that day, Ashleigh still walked away thinking things were purely platonic... ...but to her surprise just a couple weeks later, he asked her out on an official date and the two began dating on January 28th, 2023! The Lord grew their relationship so much, despite Brennen’s move to Lynchburg in August 2023 and having to navigate being long distance. On March 30th, 2024 Brennen surprised Ashleigh again by asking her to marry him! We are grateful to the Lord for knitting our lives together, and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage with all of you this fall!