.heck yeah.

Our very first day Freshman year at South Medford High School Connor and I were in the same "Link Group". When pairing up for our 'Get To Know You' questions Connor came up to me and asked to be my partner, where we learned we both love Jesus and playing guitar. We even decided we would be the perfect person to bring to a Casting Crowns concert. That night I went home and told my mom "I met the guy I'm going to marry, today" and she said "well who is he?" and I said "you'll meet him when I marry him". That fall at a football game Connor placed himself near me in the bleachers hoping that I MIGHT see him and he would get my attention, and it totally worked. He taught me the rules of the game, and even used Tommy Emanuel as a sneaky excuse to get my number so he could send me a link to his music. That year we had a few classes together and stayed good friends. The summer between Freshman and Sophomore year Connor's grandparents approached me at a Celebration of Life I was singing at for a friend. They spouted out information about me before I got a chance to ask them their names. They knew my age, name, school, and musical history. "We think you know our grandson.." they said with a grin. After spending all evening trying to set the two of us up, they said "well we will just see where you are in a couple years". Sure enough two years later Connor and I started getting together to play guitar. Overtime I started to notice Connor's family refer to me as his girlfriend. My dad asked "Well aren't you gonna correct them?" and with a smile I replied "I don't think so". Since then Connor and I have been each other's best friend and confidant, one another's strength in dark times, and have picked one another back up after stumbling on our walk with Christ. It is impossible to describe our excitement for where the Lord guides us next, and we are so grateful to get to share it with some of the people we love the most.

I thought for friends and family not so close to us, our hashtag might need a BIT of an explanation... You see, Connor LOVES superheroes. I don't say this lightly. So when Connor and I started dating, there was A LOT I needed to learn. Our first Christmas together I made Connor a Comic Book, from the "MC Comic Universe" (I know, pretty impressive, right?). The characters in the Comic are named Mikaela and Connor, big surprise! Connor is a scientist studying the brain to expand the human capacity of memory and knowledge, and the two characters had been long time friends. After Connor's fictitious colleague becomes jealous of his success, he sabotages a trip the two characters had planned to take, resulting in Connor going missing, and Mikaela ready to avenge him. After becoming a superhero (because how could you NOT become a vigilante after losing a friend in a comic? Like c'mon!) Mikaela declares herself the Cotton Ball Queen, on a quest to find the perpetrator for Connor's demise. After going back to the scene of the accident, she finds a cave where Connor had been hiding out after a DNA mutation due to the accident--making him keen to all things aquatic--going by the name of Hydro. Needless to say, Junior year me was hinting pretty hard at my feelings for Connor. And thus the Hashtag! Connor doesn't have social media, but I have been tagging photos of Connor and I on instagram with the tag since we started dating, and it would be so special to see photos you guys add from our big day! Since we might be a little busy (as superheroes are), it would mean a lot to us if you guys helped to capture this next part in our story.

One of Mikaela and I's first dates was to McKee bridge out in Applegate. During that date we took pictures and walked along and wrote our names on the bridge. For the proposal I thought it would be special to go back there and find our names. I tried to keep it as secretive as possible from her so that I would catch her off guard. We went to the bridge to take my senior photos and in my final outfit change I held the ring inside my blazer. I asked if she wanted to try and find our names on the bridge and so we walked the entire way, but could not find where we first wrote our names. I asked her if she wanted to write on it again and what it should say, that was when I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. She was definitely shocked and fell down to her knees with me, but after the shock wore off she finally said yes.

~September 3rd, 2013 Connor and Mikaela met in Link Group at South Medford High School the first day of Freshman year. Mikaela went home to tell her mom that she met the man she is going to marry. ~Fall 2013 Connor sneakily planted himself in a strategic plan to get Mikaela's phone number--which worked! ~August 2014 Papa Othar and Nana Sharon met Mikaela at a Celebration of Life which Mikaela was playing guitar for, and worked on getting the two together. ~September of their Junior year, 2015 Connor started running into Mikaela after school to make conversation, and convince her that he would be a good friend to play guitar with, and the two started hanging out. ~November 2015, Connor started calling himself Mikaela's boyfriend... Mikaela didn't care to object. ~June 2017 Mikaela and Connor graduated together! ~August 2017 Mikaela moved to Albany, Oregon to attend Linn Benton Community College for Music. ~September 2017 Connor moved to Corvallis, Oregon to attend Oregon State University for Engineering. ~March 2019 Mikaela moved back to Medford, Oregon--starting the couple's first year of long distance. ~March 2020 COVID shut down Oregon State University! Keeping Connor in Medford until the school would open back up. ~September 19th, 2020 Connor proposed! ~September 2020 OSU opened back up to students doing "partial in person classes", moving Connor back and forth between Medford & Corvallis for his remaining Senior Year. . . . ~June 26th, 2021--not to jump the gun but... THEY GOT MARRIED!.. or WILL get married, but ya know, not a lot is guaranteed in life, & we think this is pretty close!