He came out of nowhere. No really, he literally came out nowhere. We met in the middle of the woods. We were both camping with friends in Shenandoah National Park when we ran into each other on the trail. Our group had mutual friends, though we had never met, and we combined campsites for the weekend. At first, I was annoyed to have boys invade my girl’s weekend. But when Brennan got up before sunrise to make coffee for everyone, I was okay with it. After that weekend, I would see him at church on Saturday nights. I would always notice him. He was so friendly to everyone and made people feel seen. We saw each other at church for about four months before he (finally) asked me out. I had grad school work so I said no. He had been in grad school himself so he was very understanding. After three weeks of waiting for him to ask me out again, I emailed him back and we set a date. March 2, 2018 was our first date and it's a night I will never forget. We talked about DC, our love for our families and our faith. He took me to dinner and to see live music and we talked about everything from his latest attempt to make bread to his taste in music. I loved how he took care of all the little things that night from finding seats to holding my coat. Brennan ended the night by asking me if we could do this again next weekend. A kind, attractive, funny guy who could hold a conversation, loved his family and make me laugh? I could make time for that.

I didn’t sleep a wink the night before. I met her at her house before walking down the street to a little neighborhood diner that was on our summer bucket list (something I had put together with her to help disguise my future proposal plans). Beth attempted to call her mom like she always does on Saturday mornings, but I narrowly got her to avoid doing so. She ordered the best-looking plate of home fries, eggs and toast I had ever seen. I ordered a fruit parfait because “it was hot out,” but really I was nervous. We then began walking to the Library of Congress to see a baseball exhibit that was just opening up before visiting the Folk Life Festival on the Mall. Again, items on the bucket list. She attempted to call her parents which I knew were expecting a call from us at any moment with the good news. My response to her was to wait until we were at the library because her mom would be interested in seeing some of the baseball memorabilia, and Beth’s response was “If we call my mom and tell her we have a surprise to show her, she’s going to think we’re engaged!” At this point Bethany did say she looked at my pockets to check for any boxes that may be holding a ring. As we approached the library, Beth stopped to take a picture of some women and point out all the flowers in the flower bed to me. All I wanted to do was get her up to the top of the steps, her favorite spot in the city, to ask her the big questions. As soon as we turned the corner, we were confronted by a long line of tourists on the EXACT spot I was going to propose. After expressing a little frustration, and Bethany’s confusion because the line would “probably move quickly and it wasn’t that hot out,” I took a little detour toward the fountain in front of the library. Apparently, she still wasn’t on to me until I stopped, turned toward her, grab her hands and let her know there was something I wanted to ask her before we proceeded with the day. I have never been happier than that day.