Andrew knew me through the college ministry at our local church, Antioch Community Church. I knew Andrew as the guy who was always with my co-worker, Brydon Johnson. When we met I totally misjudged Andrew—I did not think he loved Jesus, little did I know he has just come home a missions college in Minnesota. At the Dutch Bros drive thru window, he spoke to me for the first time and said, "You have so much joy." To which I thought (but didn't say), "Who the hell are you?" Soon after meeting, he started coming to the Lifegroup I hosted at my apartment and about a month into Lifegroup strategically went to the bathroom while everyone else was leaving, so he could have the chance to talk with me. Not wanting to hangout with a fella alone in my home, we left my house and went to a neutral, safe place (Dutch Bros ASU) and talked until 1AM. The rest is history.

The hardest thing to do when you are about to get engaged is keep a secret, especially when Becca and I have the same friends. Needless to say, I knew my approach had to be different. Two weeks before proposing I remembered Becca mentioning she had MLK Day off of work—the only problem with that is it was a Monday and who gets engaged on a Monday? But like I said, my approach had to be different. While figuring out how I was going to surprise Becca, some of my closest friends from work invited me to go to Flagstaff with them for a day trip. That’s when it occurred to me—this might be my only chance to surprise Becca—invite her on a trip with people she doesn't know and tell her zero details, honestly it was mid-level genius, and two of those people are now in the wedding. Reluctantly, Becca agreed to go because if you know her at all, you know she is a woman who loves a good planned day, but she couldn't know that she was about to get hustled. The morning of MLK Day, we met at Dutch Bros and were on our way to Flagstaff. wWE got breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot in Flagstaff and laughed harder than we had in a long time because we were in sweet company. The plan going forward was to drive up to Mt. Humphreys and ask her to marry me—but of course an obstacle had to come. Because of the snow, we had to put snow chains on a car that should have never ascended a snowy mountain (little did we know it was going to be 12 degrees). We drove up the mountain at 15mph laughing because of how silly we looked and waving at all the people passing us. We finally reached the top and it was game time. We walked over to a beautiful trail and I began to contemplate how I was going to get the ring out of my hidden pocket in my jacket. The hardest thing was getting her to turn around, so I could get on one knee. After much struggle, she turned her body enough to give me time to get down on one knee and pull the ring out. Not to spoil the ending, but she said YES! :)