Every spring break my siblings would go on the 2nd Mile Adventure Ski Trip, Where we go to Colorado to snowboard and encourage each other in God's word. Since I didn't meet the age requirement, my brothers and sisters went on this trip a few years before I could join. I remember when my sister Rosalyn, came back from her first time attending. She met this boy, but not for herself, for me. She would go on and on about how great this Cobe guy was. "Dez, I think I found the guy you are going to MARRY! He is so cool, He could keep up with us on every slope" she would say. Hearing this when I was in 7th grade, was stressful, I hardly thought about guys, especially not THE ONE!

So when Dezarays sister told her all those things about me, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park winning Dezaray over. But it was the exact opposite.. on the ski trip the next year we officially met and it seemed to me like we were really hitting it off. I was sitting next to her on the chair lifts, we got lunch and dinner together a few times, (Never breakfast tho.. she’s NOT a morning person) We played games in the gym and one night I think she even let me sit next to her at bible study. 8th-grade Cobe thought he had it in the bag. But once we got back to Warsaw it all changed. It was like she never met me. I would text her and it was one response a day or just leaving me on read. Didn’t talk to me at school and we never had classes together so that didn’t help. Never sat with me at lunch. And when we hung out with all our friends it was like she acknowledged every other guy in the group except me. But I was determined and didn’t wanna give up. So the day of the Miller’s pizza party I showed up unannounced at Dezarays front door with a dozen roses. In my mind, it was do or die, If she took the Roses I knew I still had a chance, and if she didn’t it would be time to throw in the towel. So after a very awkward 5 min conversation standing at her front door, she took the flowers! I was in! Finally, after 3 years I knew she would at least talk to me again, but I was wrong. She avoided me at the party and all I got was a text saying thank you for the flowers. It would be another 2 years in the middle of our senior year that she finally decided to give it a chance.

Throughout high school, I was interested in Cobe but it wasn't until he brought me flowers that I noticed he was interested back. That romantic gesture, made me realize he liked me. But it wasn’t good timing, I was talking to someone else, so I couldn’t jump into something with Cobe. But, I kept those flowers, drying in a room downstairs. Sometimes I would go down and see them and remember how special Cobe made me feel. Then, senior year of high school, we danced together at senior semi-formal and started going on some dates. I was finally giving him a chance. We started hanging out more, going on dates for probably four months, I couldn't make up my mind about him. Granted, I hadn't dated anyone before so you could say I had very unrealistic and high standards. Eventually, we made it official! We then dated for about two and a half years. One of the first gifts he gave me, was a necklace of the dried roses he gave me. He went to the basement and took a couple of the dried flowers that I kept, and sent them to a custom necklace company. How could I not fall in love with this man?

If you haven’t seen our engagement video on social media, Cobe planned a date for him and me. And if you don’t know, Cobe is a pilot, so he planned for us to fly to Michigan, go out to eat at a nice restaurant, and fly back home. This wasn’t the first time we have done something like this, so I didn’t suspect anything. Weeks before we went on this date, Cobe told me he wanted to start videoing himself flying, to show the view, and to potentially post on youtube. So we flew to Michigan, ate breakfast, ( turns out I can be a morning person if I want to), and started flying back when Cobe was telling me there was a problem with the plane RPMs. The next thing I know we are moving all over the place, it felt like the worst turbulence ever. And Cobe is looking around saying we might have to land in a field while handing me emergency landing instructions. So I start to read them out loud to him while trying to stay calm. Then at the end, of the instructions, it says “will the pilot love the passenger forever,” and, “will the passenger marry the pilot”. And there's Cobe holding a ring asking me to marry him! My emotions were all over the place, one second I think we are going to die, and then it's like just kidding, let's get married! The cycle of emotions was all caught on video! And of course, I said yes! Then when we landed the plane there waiting were our families and friends to celebrate with us! Long story short, Rosalyn was right, she found me the man I was going to marry!