Backstory: It's funny that our paths didn't cross until our later twenties, considering we grew up about twenty miles away from each other most of our lives. But, the four year gap was just enough to keep us from knowing each other until the time was just right! Brandon grew up in Terre Haute & graduated from Terre Haute North, while Ashlen grew up in Brazil & graduated from Northview. Both went to ISU, but Ashlen's freshman year in college, playing volleyball, was Brandon's first year out of college, playing in the minors for baseball. There's a good chance we could have passed each other in the ISU weight room through training during this year, but it wasn't until a couple of years later until we would meet face to face! "Really Like" at First Sight: It all started in 2015 on Christmas Eve at the Christian bookstore. Brandon, Cody (BIL) and Drew (cousin) all came venturing into the bookstore, while Ashlen was working a random shift that she had come back to pick up during her college winter break. At this time, Ashlen had transferred and was a junior at Indiana Wesleyan University, and Brandon was diving into his earlier years at Dorsett Automotive after baseball. Ashlen's dad actually received a text from Brandon's dad that night after Brandon & Ashlen had met at the bookstore mentioning their encounter. Nothing happened right away, but both held a heavy interest in hoping to connect with each other in the future. ;) Fast Forward to Summer 2016: Brandon finally decided to make a move into Ashlen's facebook messages! We went on a couple of dates, but things didn't turn into anything serious. Life went on, Ashlen went back to school, & Brandon continued his career. We would text or snapchat every now and then, but never saw each other in person again until later. Third Times the Charm! : After a while of snap chatting & responding to things on social media, Brandon reached out again in 2019 on Thanksgiving. Ashlen was secretly ecstatic & was curious to see if this would finally turn into something she thought could be lasting or if this was the last chance to know if it wasn't meant to be for good. Life had changed a bit; Ashlen was teaching & living in Avon, while Brandon was still in Terre Haute. Distance makes the heart grow fonder,right?! Brandon picked Ashlen up for their "first date" the second time around & they headed to one of their favorite restaurants to this day, Bridges. They were both smitten & even hung out the very next day, along with talking each day after. This relationship continued to unfold into the next few years together! Divine Detour: God always has a plan, & sometimes we don't like it. But for us, it allowed our story to thrive into where we are now. We came to some roadblocks at the end of 2022 that led to a breakup. During this time, God showed us things that we both needed to work on & learn from to become the best husband and wife for a future marriage. In 2023, God began to lead us back to one another. We did some hard work to better understand each other, appreciate each other and love each other well. Thankfully through this time and testimony, God allowed us to restore our relationship into something stronger & more beautiful than we could have imagined. Ring, Ring! Saturday, December 23rd, 2023: Ashlen had just gotten on winter break and was a little off, while fighting a winter bug. She figured the engagement would happen around Christmas or Christmas Eve. So, she came over to Brandon's in her PJs, slippers, no make up & NO nails! ha She was planning to put those on at Brandon's! Brandon on the other hand woke up that morning deciding that was the day! He started off by having Ashlen open a couple of early Christmas presents- a waffle maker and a Whirley Pop, both items Ashlen had wanted for a long time & was thrilled about! Brandon then told her that there was one more gift hiding by the tree. When she found it, she gave the ring to him to propose & the rest is history!