I spent almost every day at the pool with my friends last spring and summer. One day I was sitting at the edge of the pool and saw Drew walk in with a girl I knew from school. I thought to myself, "Aw good for her! Her boyfriend is so hot." (she's my bridesmaid now) They came over to talk to us and I realized pretty quickly that they were just friends. I also realized pretty quickly that Drew was an amazing listener, the most friendly and charismatic guy I'd ever met, and that we couldn't keep our eyes off of each other. He got my instagram at the pool and dmed me that night to ask me on a date. Our first date was perfect: Trader Joe's, picnic in the hills, and watercolor painting. I don't remember everything we talked about, I mostly remember how exciting it felt. I think we talked non-stop the whole date- besides when he kissed me ;) Drew made me a playlist, "songs for Grace" and sent it to me the next day. It was so thoughtful of him, and a relationship bucket-list item for me (he didn't know that). I felt like the most thoughtful part was a callback to our conversation the night before, found in the playlist description. I couldn't remember the last time I was so excited, everything seemed perfect. And it only got better. I basically spent the whole next month with Drew. I found that my initial impressions of Drew were true, and I learned that he is an eternal optimist, highly motivated, hilarious, selfless, kind, fun, smart, and social- oh boy does Drew like to chit-chat! I learned that he loves the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that he loves to learn and teach. And I learned that he has almost any cool hobby you can think of (and some silly ones too). Drew was pretty clearly my dream guy. Despite the fact that I was already head-over-heels for Drew when he asked me to be his girlfriend, I thought about it for a day before saying yes. I think I knew that if I dated Drew I'd end up marrying him. I'm glad I was right. I'm grateful to get eternity with him.

One day last Summer I went to a pool close to my house with a friend. When we got there I saw Grace sitting with a group of people including some guys that I knew. I kept looking over at her trying to muster the courage to walk up to the group so I could eventually talk to her when my friend, who apparently knew Grace, approached them first. I joined the group and tried to play it cool, but I couldn’t help from continually glancing over at her and hanging on to every word she said. I gathered that she was kind, sweet, passionate, absolutely gorgeous, and very smart. I had a huge crush on her and had to ask her out. For our first date we got snacks at Trader Joe’s then painted in the foothills of Provo as the sun set. As I pretended not to be out of breath while hiking up to the spot, I was really impressed by her values and the priority family had in her life. The date went perfect. I told all my friends how stoked I was about her and just couldn’t get her out of my head. After her spending a week in Hawaii while I prayed that her feelings wouldn’t fizzle out or that she would meet some hot surfer dude, we pretty much saw each other every day. We went on hikes, went to the flea market a ton, and she even got me to start listening to (and I reluctantly admit), enjoying country music. At the time she was also training for a half marathon so in an effort to spend more time with her I told her I also wanted to run one too despite having never run further than a 5k when I was 12. Anything was worth it to spend time with grace. Asking her to officially be my girlfriend was the best decision I have ever made. Despite the, ahem, buffering period before the request was ratified, I felt so confident in my decision. Grace has proven time and time again that she is the best thing that could ever happen to me. She has been dependably at my side through some of the most difficult experiences I’ll ever go through as well as some of the happiest, most carefree times. She is everything good, light, caring, and loving. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to spend eternity at her side.