So there I was, at a powerlifting meet for a friend of mine. In all honesty, I kinda didn’t want to go that morning, but I went by a prompting. And little did I know, but the Lord would introduce me to my wife that day. So I’m standing there, at the back of the aisle, with the platform at one end, me at the other. I’m shooting the breeze with a buddy, and I turn. And there she was, Donna Hinrichs. We locked eyes (though she remembers not), and I watched her hit the gnarliest third attempt squat. And I was in love instantly. She takes her victory and heads backstage behind the curtain with the other lifters. I knew I had to meet her. Later in the day, I go back there to help a friend warm up for bench. I’m loading plates with Shiv, and out the corner of my eye, I see her by her lonesome. “Now’s my chance,” I said to myself. I leave a plate on the bar to go meet my future bride. Said something like, “hey, nice squat” …very smooth. But we hit it off, and after a brief exchange, I turn to return to my duties, only to see Shiv with his hands up in disbelief. I had left the bar uneven, he had been loading plates only to look up and see me abandon my post to flirt with “some girl”. I never heard the end of it, but it was worth all the jokes. When the day was up, I didn’t get chance to talk to her again. And I kicked myself for not getting her number or anything. Yet by Divine Providence, she started going to Iron House! I couldn’t believe it, and before I knew it, we had our first date. And now we’re getting married! But I’ll let my beautiful bride tell you the rest of the story:

Then for the next five weeks came the banter in the gym, helping each other with lifts, coincidentally meeting Mr. Todd, and flirting in between sets. One day, one of our friends at the gym (thank you Shiv) had asked if I liked sushi, and Joshua overheard my enthusiastic “heck yeah I do!” When we were chatting after a workout two days later, I had mentioned how I had been craving sushi since Shiv had brought it up, AKA handing Joshua an opportunity on a silver platter. Thankfully, he took the hint, and we spent three and a half hours chatting about nearly every topic under the sun over sushi a few days later. Y’all know we’ve been inseparable ever since. From trying so many different food spots, Joshua bringing me to Pathway Church for the first time (and nearly every Sunday since), four powerlifting meets, and countless adventures that I would have never taken without him by my side :) Just over a year later, we took a trip between Christmas and New Year’s to visit family in Colorado. We sat to watch the sunset, and I almost started crying over the view alone, but little did I know I was about to be crying MANY more tears of joy!!