I doubt that either of us remembers actually meeting for the first time, but when your families go to the same parish and your moms both volunteer with Vacation Bible School, it's safe to say that it was a number of years ago. Although we didn't quite hit it off with love at first sight as kids, it was at least a starting point...

With Covid raging in Madrid, Stephanie hopped on a plane to come back to the US. Feeling a fair bit heartbroken to be missing the last of the year teaching, she was grateful to at least be back at her home parish where, interestingly enough, she saw a familiar face on the other side of the Church.

So, after a number of weeks (okay, maybe months) of noticing each other at Mass, Stephanie approached Brian after Mass at the Easter vigil to compliment his lectoring skills and he totally blew her off with a "you know what they say, good material"! After speaking only briefly, both Stephanie and Brian wished each other a happy Easter and went their separate ways (aka, Brian walked away).

While only speaking a few times, after Mass, following the Easter Vigil - on Mother's day, Brian and Stephanie conversed over tomato plants in the Church parking lot - this time Brian had a bit more to say and the mutual interest continued to grow.

A couple of weeks of chatting after Mass led Stephanie (the introvert) to think that she should invite Brian and another young lady from the 8am Mass crew to grab coffee one day, but when she finally got the nerve to invite them, only Brian was at Mass that day. She mentioned it casually as they were walking to their cars and Brian immediately suggested that they exchange phone numbers! After talking throughout the week, Stephanie was excited to meet up with Brian for coffee after work - still uncertain as to whether it was a date or not, Brian was the perfect gentleman but made his intentions clear by the end of the afternoon and the dating relationship began...

It was certainly interesting dating during a pandemic… we spent most dates outside or with a small group of family and friends - sunflower fields, corn mazes, picking berries and disc golfing. Thankfully Jimmie Cone is always a perfect place to start or end a date, grabbing some ice cream and taking a walk! (I still think that more than 50% of our dates thus far have included Jimmie Cone, which is extra impressive when you think of the fact that it was closed for the winter!)

While Stephanie was surprised when Brian proposed, most everyone else said "it's about time!" Apparently everyone was just waiting for it to happen...