Jeremy and I met in the summer of 2022 when our mutual friends Kim and Basel invited him to visit our church. At lunch after the service I was very impressed by their cute, smart friend with glasses who drove a red Beetle. However, I was moving overseas soon and I left that lunch regretful that cute boys who drove Beetles and lived in Texas were not for me. A few months later we got a second chance when, for Kim's birthday, we went to see her husband's band perform, and lo and behold the lead singer of his band was none other than the cute bespectacled friend from the taco place! We missed that chance as well, however, as Jeremy passed right by my table and I was convinced he didn't remember me (I was wrong, by the way). The third time, however, was indeed the charm, when Jeremy and I both showed up to the church Christmas party (a last minute decision on both of our parts). This time when we started talking sparks flew and when we looked up we realized everyone else had gone home and we were closing down the party! As we talked about our faith, families, and international travels a glimmer of hope appeared to me that this Texas boy might not be as out of bounds as I had thought. Our first few dates involved local restaurants, playing guitar in the park together, and going to the movies. Because I was looking at moving abroad within the year, our relationship was never casual. We fell in love in a whirlwind, soon meeting each other's families and regularly talking about the logistics of our future. At around our 8 month anniversary, I proceeded with my career move abroad and we made the painful transition to long distance. Thankfully, between the miracles of modern technology and a few strategically planned visits, we have been able to grow and deepen our relationship even on opposite sides of the world. In March of this year we met in the "middle" in lovely Ljubljana, Slovenia. Jeremy rowed me out to a tiny island in a mountain lake and proposed to me in the most romantic place in the world! Since then he has come to visit me here again and we have only grown more excited about our upcoming marriage. We cannot wait to celebrate with you all in December!