Jessie and I (Dillon) met while teaching Sunday School at our church on August 22, 2021. It was Jessie's first week as a leader (my third week). I was sitting at the table waiting for our leader meeting to start when Jessie walked in. To my internal delight (don't worry--I played it incredibly cool on the outside), she sat down right next to me. What happened next can only be described as God's providence due to the fact that I'm his absolute favorite: the extraordinarily-organized Sunday School director made the only scheduling error that I've seen her make before or since. Somehow, Jessie hadn't been placed on the schedule and my assigned classroom was over-booked with leaders. I don't remember formulating it as a full-blown prayer, but as the director began rearranging the room assignments I was consciously hoping that Jessie and I would somehow be placed together. Sure enough (keep in mind that I'm God's favorite), that's what happened. We were assigned to the five-year-olds classroom. We hit it off, discovered a mutual love of science and medicine, delivered a dominant Sunday School performance, endured a bizarre worship service right after, and Jessie invited me to her weekly volleyball hangout at Wash Park that night. After a month of texting, calling, COVID, fending off dates with other people (and painfully enduring some of them), editing her CU Med School application, more volleyball, Chick-Fil-A, and a timely tour of my PhD lab, I asked her to dinner. Our first official date was on October 1 at The Melting Pot (technically we also went to breakfast the day before and tested every single chair at Stanley Marketplace)--a date that ended in a game night with Jessie's family (that was a lie. It ended 30 minutes after game night with our first kiss. Another dominant performance). Dating Jessie has been an absolute joy and the story goes on and on. I can't wait to call her my wife...but first I needed to make her my fiancee (see below for the proposal story)!

What Jessie knew: 1) I was going to be using my new job's signing bonus to buy a ring at the end of January (shameless shoutout to Faithful Platform for insanely affordable and spectacular custom rings). 2) The proposal was coming sometime in the month of February. 3) A photographer and an after party would be included for the proposal. What Jessie didn't know: 1) When. 2) Where. 3) What the ring would look like (a source of measurable anxiety for me). To my advantage: 1) My older sister Brienna is an incredible event coordinator at Improper City (another shameless plug). 2) Pretty much all of our friends and family live in Denver. 3) I had three weeks off of work at the beginning of January to get this sucker planned. Of course, the default route would have been the ol' "take a hike and have a photographer planted at the mountaintop" approach. Unfortunately, since we have literally never gone on a hike and it was February, this wasn't a feasible option for maintaining the surprise. Instead, since we met at Park Church (see above), I decided to propose there. After "forgetting" my Bible at church on Sunday, I had a sneaky excuse for swinging by the church on our way to a "double date" with Jessie's best friend (yet another dominant performance of secrecy, this time by Wendy and Frank). I had recruited my groomsman Zach to set up lilies (the flower I brought Jessie on our first date) and candles in the sanctuary, and hired another of Jessie's friends to take pictures (Hannah Henke Photography. Shameless plug #3). Miraculously, she said yes (she may have been on to me when I forced her out of the car to help me grab my Bible in 10 degree weather). Afterwards, we headed to Improper City where Brienna had set up a private party. It was an unforgettable night and the first celebration of many on our journey towards life together.