Belle: We had been running in the same circles for a while, but had never known the other existed. Now, when we say we ran in the same circles, we had literally been barely dodging each other for years. Going to the same church, having the same friends, and even having the same major for over a year without running into each other. Around October 2023, we had both reached a time in our lives where we were ready to be in a relationship again, and luckily for us, a couple of our good friends had started dating and introduced us! After a few interactions that proved to us that we quite liked each other, we went on our first date. Dursun cooked for me and I fell head-over-heels. We decided to take it slow with a plan to be casually dating in order to get to know each other better. Despite that, we had grown so close that we decided to make it official on December 4, a little under a month after our first date and three days before Dursun left for a trip to Japan. The time change did not hinder us from growing closer. We decided to start writing each other letters. These were some of the most genuine and heartfelt conversations we had, and I am so grateful for that time we spent apart - because it made having him back so much sweeter. Dursun: Like she said, Belle and I spent the month after our first date spending as much time as we could getting to know each other. I was originally against dating people that weren’t first my friend, but around December, I knew I had to do something. The night before I had to leave to go on a tour across Japan, I’d taken Belle with me to go dancing near our university’s fountain. That terrible winter wind that Tennessee is so fond of would blow every now and again, and we would pull each other just a bit closer. Finally, with chattering teeth and stiff muscles (caused both by fear and frost), I asked her if she would be my girlfriend. Despite Japan being the best trip I’ve ever taken, I couldn’t wait to get off the plane and see Belle again. Not long after, we told each other that we loved each other for the first time. The semester that came was wonderful, as we went from having no shared classes and spending the better part of a month away from each other to having three classes together! It was an incredibly busy semester for me, and Belle was my biggest supporter; she was the main reason I stayed well-fed and caffeinated. When the summer finally rolled around, I began to consider something quite daunting and unfamiliar: proposing to her. You see, between writing my largest research paper yet and working a rather bland office job, I was stressed out, and it didn’t help that my roommates at the time were… messy, to say the least. After work, I would spend the majority of the day at Belle’s apartment. We’d cook together, clean together, go to the mall and pretend like we had money together, and so much more. I got a small glimpse of how great a team we’d make if we really lived together, so I started saving up for a ring! Belle: Dursun had very easily become my best friend. I had known from very early on that I thought he was the one, but all the time together confirmed that. He called me one day in May or June of 2024 while he was traveling and told me he was serious about marrying me. And sure enough, he proved his point. We started having serious conversations about marriage and what that would look like, and he took me ring shopping! He worked so hard to save for my ring, and it is stunning! He proposed to me almost a year after he officially asked me to be his girlfriend, and surprised the heck out of me. I knew I didn’t want to be with anyone else and he felt the same. That leads us to today, where we are more in love than ever, and so excited to tie the knot. Our love is the strongest it’s ever been and we are praying with expectation that the Lord will honor the work we’ve put in to make this relationship beautiful.