Marriage… Marriage is what brings us together today

We met in 2019 at Calvin Presbyterian church. He was living in Tucson while attending UofA and would frequently drive up to Phoenix to attend church at Calvin and visit friends in the valley. Although having met back then, we didn’t start talking until the end of the last summer. We were at a church event talking and laughing with a group of friends and Hailey felt like something clicked. That night she called one of her best friends, Valerie, who happened to know him well, and the first thing Hailey used to describe him was that he felt like home. We hung out a few more times with friends before Lucca had to go back to school. Hailey told him that he should come back into town and visit again. At this point, she already knew if they started dating they would get married. Valerie continued to organize group hangouts and inviting both of us, but after weeks of Lucca coming back into town with Hailey being unable to attend, he finally got her phone number from Valerie and the two started frequently texting and quickly connected. This lead to calling on the phone every day with occasional visits to Phoenix. In the fall, after two months of talking and a few dates later, Lucca asked Hailey to be his girlfriend by the shores of Tempe Town lake. Continuing our conversation, we discovered we were in agreement on our fundamental beliefs and issues and that we complemented each other well. After these discoveries and talking about future plans, we started considering marriage and came to understand the phrase, “when you know, you know.” Hailey started talking to her mom about engagement, who said she knew that when Hailey found the one that she would quickly get married. She offered Hailey her great-grandmother’s ring, and while it was being restored, we moved forward with our plans. Lucca proposed on March 6th, 2023 at Lynx Lake in Prescott. To us, our relationship has developed so naturally. We continue to grow together and love each other more as the days go on. We’re excited to walk through life together and continue growing as a couple and starting a family to the glory of God. We trust in the Lord and are eager to see where He takes us.

Hailey didn’t know the exact date Lucca would propose, but she knew it was happening in March and the only time he’d be in town was for spring break. Hailey figured it would happen that week, but Lucca kept trying to throw her off, which greatly annoyed her. Once the ring was ready, Lucca took Hailey to Prescott to propose on March 6th, 2023. They walked around Prescott for an hour and then went on a walk around the snowy Lynx Lake. While holding hands, Hailey kept getting annoyed because Lucca was really stiff. After stopping at a bench, he said he had to go to the bathroom, and walked into the woods behind the bench to set up his phone. It become obvious what he was doing and when he came back we were both smiling and giggling with anticipation. Lucca reached into his sock and pulled out the box with the ring. We heard some people walking up the path and Lucca said we should wait for them to pass, so Hailey tried her best to wait patiently for these random strangers to walk by. Then Lucca proposed. We celebrated and called around to tell everyone the news. Lucca then informed her that he had been in excruciating pain as the box was digging into his ankle after driving and walking around so much, and that was why he had been walking so stiffly and we had a good laugh about it. Unfortunately, the video doesn’t really capture the moment, but it’s still something we can look back on and laugh about. When we came back into town, Lucca had some of Hailey’s friends together to celebrate and surprise her. It was a super sweet and joyous moment.