Samantha’s POV- It all started on a dating app called Hinge. Dating apps are awkward and let’s be honest a few of them were made for a quick hookup and nothing more. Hinge advertised itself as the dating app meant to be deleted, didn’t think I’d actually meet someone on it but dating in today’s society 😅 it’s rough! I stumbled across this handsome man wearing a button up and a gold watch and decided to do a bit of browsing. His answers were insightful and funny so I looked a little more and saw a photo of this man in daisy dukes.. I stopped for a moment and thought hmmm he’s either a big goofball or has a big ego.. guess there’s only one way to find out thought.. I sent a message about his beautiful puppy (Bishop), a dog is an easy way into a conversation! We started messaging and from the jump I could tell that photo was because he is a big goofball. We bonded over music, animals, sports, and just life. After a few weeks and a little fear I scared him away, he finally asked me out!! I was so excited, however, I was working at a new job, had a 2 year old and had a wedding I was going to on the weekend so I told him yes, but I couldn’t do it for two weeks… he was convinced that it would never happen that I was just putting him off to cancel! But two weeks later we met up in Shepherdstown for coffee. We pull into the parking lot, got out of our cars. He looked up at me and smiled and I swear right there my heart just stopped only for a second but goodness gracious that man was looked so good. I was just mesmerized by his smile. By the time we made it from the parking lot to the coffee shop though, all the nervousness faded away. We talked and walked, I gave him a tour of the campus. We continued our walk down to the river where I saved Thomas’s life as he almost bit the dust and slide on the mud into the river. After that we thought maybe we should just sit for a bit haha we sat at a picnic table and just talked and talked. What I thought would be an hour tops for a date turned into four hours. We sat as it lightly rained and just talked. At some point Thomas looked at me and asked to kiss me…I mean of course I said yes but it definitely caught me by surprise that he asked. What a gentleman! We left that date dragging our feet because we were having such a good time but we both knew in that moment this was the start or something. A lot of FaceTimes and a few dates later, we had gotten to the last piece of the puzzle that still needed to happen.. he needed to meet Elli; I think you can all guess how that went! Once we knew Elli was onboard for the ride we made it official. It wasn’t long before we knew we loved each other! I’d share the story of how that first came out but I can only use so many characters but me slyly playing a song call “Things I can’t say” by Spencer Crandall happened! It was about 6 months after that, that he asked me if Elli and I would move in with him, and that house became our home. There’s been challenges and heartaches over the course of the last 4 years together, but we have handled them as partners, a team, and a family. I can’t imagine anyone I would rather face the difficulties of life with and I know Thomas sees it the same way, which is why on February 7th of this year, Thomas got down on one knee, in the middle of downtown Martinsburg and asked me if I’d marry him. Obviously I said yes, but omg I was a mixture of excited and embarrassed in that moment. I don’t like being the center of attention and my face was so red he barely made it on his knee before I was pulling him up saying yes! On October 13th Thomas and I will be up in the mountains for a private elopement ceremony. We are so excited. Now I’ve talked enough and if you’ve made it this far I thank you for indulging in reliving some of Thomas and I’s story! Over the course of these last 4 years we’ve built a beautiful family, with an amazing support system / friend group. We really want to thank all of you!