We're so excited to celebrate with you!

It wasn't love at first sight, or "bite," in his case. I (Emily) had actually recently gotten out of a relationship and wasn't looking to meet anyone new, until my best friend, Kait (hello MOH!) kinda forced him on me. Okay, "forced" is a bit strong, especially considering I was the one who went out of my way to stumble into his college apartment on Super Bowl Sunday. But nonetheless, she talked him up and somehow I ended up there, standing in front of this guy with a chicken popper shoved in his mouth at exactly the moment I introduced myself. I think he said his name was "Danmfl"? The plan was to get ice cream for the first date, but it was a little delayed since he backed his truck into a cement pole before even leaving campus... broke his mirror right off. I then ran back to my apartment for some duct tape, and minutes later, it was good as new! (Sorta.) The ice cream was great, though! The following weeks were a bit confusing as I tried to navigate the whole "haven't been out of a relationship for long, probably need some time to reflect, but really like this guy" kinda deal, but who was I kidding, he's perfect! April 10, 2019: Daniel called my dad to ask if he could date me, my dad gave him some kind of speech, and I became the most blessed girl around as Daniel's new girlfriend!

Him The first time I knew I loved her it was too early to tell her. We hadn't known each other for very long and I was worried that if I told her, I'd scare her off. We were in a park, laying in her hammock talking about my recent trip to Israel and things I had done there, as we had done for about four days in a row now. She was so full of life and excitement about the things I had to share, hanging on every word. And then there it was, just a look, like I was the only thing in the world that mattered at that moment, like I could have two heads and a tail and she would still rather be no where else. That was the moment I knew I loved her. And she has shown me so many times over how true that look was. Her He had just gotten back from this amazing trip to Israel and I wanted to know all the details, so much so that I made him split up his storytelling and picture-showing into multiple dates. On the last of these, we decided to go hammock in a local park. It was golden hour and he was telling me about the way he felt in the presence of The Holy of Holies, and I was overcome with the Holy Spirit. I silently prayed, "Thank you for this man who loves you so much. Thank you for bringing him into my life, at least for the time being." But I knew.

We had talked for a while about going on a gondola ride, so that was our first destination! He took me up to Long Beach for a lovely gondola ride complete with roses, wine, and our very own singing gondolier! I had suspected it was the day he would propose and was nervous the whole ride that he would do it on the boat, which I had told him he wasn't allowed to do for fear he might drop the ring in the water! Thankfully, it wasn't time yet. We then drove south down the Pacific Coast Highway, stopped for some milkshakes and fries, and made our way to Laguna Beach. He had taken me here for a picnic on our 1 year anniversary, which had been my very favorite date, so here we were again! Thing is, parking is really hard to find down there, so Dan was getting super stressed out, afraid we'd lose the sunlight. We ended up parking behind this creepy white van (it's our friend Zak's, he calls it the "Stabbin' Wagon") and we were totally fine on time. When we got down to the beach, Dan had me stand on this ledge that kind of hung out over the water, and he told me to face the waves, close my eyes, and just listen.. he would be back in just a moment. I was really nervous at this point (in the excited kind of way) because I knew it was coming. He brought me this little poster with a handwritten note on it for me to read, and when I turned around, he was on his knee! Zak was there taking pictures to capture the moment, and his wife Lindsey did all the editing! :) Thanks, guys, we love you! (Your van is creepy, though.)