Beau and I have gone to school together since the fifth grade up until our senior year of high school. Although we walked the same school hallways, sat behind each other in the some of the same classes, and shared the same friend group, we were not brought together until the spring of our sophomore year in college. My friend Bethany (bridesmaid) first planted the idea of dating Beau in my head the winter before. The thought had never crossed my mind before then, and it sounded like the craziest idea.. until we met face to face at our friend Grant's (groomsman) cabin four months later. After a little push from our friends, we clicked like we had known each other all along and agreed to go on our first official date. When everyone else decided to go to bed that night, we stayed outside by the fire where we talked about anything and everything until three in the morning. We casually dated for the next few weeks and spent as much time together as possible. On May 22, 2016 Beau made surprise dinner plans. He brought me a couple dresses to choose from that he had purchased that day, and told me to put one of them on and be ready at 6:00. He picked me up that evening and took me to dinner at Rick's Boatyard, then brought me back to the wedding venue on his parent's property. All of the twinkle lights on the dance floor were lit up and we danced to some of our favorite songs. He asked me to be his girlfriend that night and without hesitation, I said, "yes!" Little did we know, we would be getting married at that same wedding venue three years later..

We had plans to get baptized together in front of our close family and friends that summer, so it was no surprise when I drove back to the creek on Beau's family's property to find all of them waiting for me. Beau took my hand and brought me in front of everyone and began speaking about our decision to get baptized and all the reasons why it was so important for the both of us. As he continued to speak, he flowed from the topic of our baptism to his love for me. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, he was down on his knee with a ring box in his hands. Through my tears and complete surprise I, of course, said yes. After agreeing to commit myself to Beau for the rest of my life, we made our commitment to God. Beau was re-baptized as an adult by his grandpa, Neil, then Beau baptized me. I could not have planned a better proposal than one where we would begin our engagement with a foundation in Jesus.