God has led two lives to take one path

Our story begins with God. Wade’s lifelong childhood “brother” Eli, and one of my best friends, Katie, were walking through Walmart one night, and they had the thought of introducing us. As they had that discussion, they turned the corner and ran into Wade. Katie asked if she could give him my number and after I stalked his Facebook a little and saw that he was a hunter, fisher, and loved nature, I was sold. We texted everyday for about a week before we had our first date- a double date, with Katie and Eli. When I first pulled up, Wade was already outside, waving his arms like an aircraft marshall, guiding me into the parking spot. As soon as I got out of my car he swooped me up in the air with a big hug and spun me in a circle- talk about butterflies 😍🦋 Our first date was amazing and we agreed to a second date the next day, doing a wine stroll with Katie and Eli. About 2.5 weeks of talking to each other, Wade let it slip that he loved me and we laughed that it was so soon. He said he meant it though, he just meant to keep it a secret a little while longer. I told him that I had honestly been fighting the urge to tell him I loved him too. We laughed again at how crazy we sounded, but “when you know, you know!” We lived almost 3 hours from each other, so we spent many hours talking on the phone and many miles driving to see each other. Every time we had to say goodbye for the night, it felt like the hardest thing to do. A little over a month of talking, we agreed that it was time that I met the most important human in Wade’s life, Eden Blake, and it wouldn’t be long before she was just as important in my life. One day Wade told me to dress up because we were going out to eat. We get to this nice Italian restaurant and while I am eating my dinner, Wade tells me to save room for dessert. I thought this was weird because we always eat too much and don’t have room for dessert, but I agreed. While enjoying our dinner, I could hear what sounded like a trumpet and guitar practicing and I asked Wade if he could hear it a couple times and he kept changing the subject. When our waitress brought out our dessert, a mariachi band came out of nowhere and began playing by our table. I looked at my dessert and it said “will you marry me.” As I look up, Wade was getting on one knee and I of course said YES! After getting engaged August 31st, 2022, we decided it was important to sit down with Eden and explain what it meant. We told her that it meant that I would be her stepmother and what that meant and she asked “so I can call you mom now?!” -cue the tears 🥹💗 Important Dates: After two months of “dating,” Wade officially asked me to be his girlfriend on June 9th, 2021. We got our first place together in Springfield, November 2021. Hopper the Kitty joined the family December 2021. Axl Rose joined the family July 2022. Wade proposed August 31st, 2022 with a mariachi band. Started our own business- Tree & Yard Handling, February 2023. Began attending Life.Church in Springfield October 2023. We got baptized together February 2024! Hopper the Kitty had two kittens, John and James “the sons of thunder” June 2024. We’re getting married September 15th, 2024! We can’t wait to see you all there! Xoxo, Wade and Jess