It all started in the little American Fork 12th ward, when 15-year-old Isabel decided that Owen wouldn't be worth her time. After two years of evasive maneuvers, we received positions in the stake youth council and started getting to know each other on our way to meetings. During this time, we were both in long-term dating relationships. The most we interacted outside of church was a wave in the hallways at school but we had some sparks start to fly after we graduated. The big "break-the-ice" moment was after a church gathering that took place at Owen's house. We ended up talking for about two hours, and I came home BEAMING. I sat and gushed about him to my mom for a while and told her: "it's been so long since I talked to someone who gets me like that". It was in that moment I knew I'd met someone who made me feel truly understood. (He was also super hilarious and charming, but I wouldn't admit that to myself at the time). Over the summer, he came to my weekly game nights, we both cut ties with our high-school romances, I moved off to BYU, and Owen stayed at home to work. We texted and hung out every single weekend from Thursday game nights to Saturday night football games. At this point, my breakup was still fresh, and I cared about him enough to keep him from being a rebound. Once I felt emotionally available enough to do so, I was all in. In the fall, Owen started working at Dragonsteel. All of our coworkers became painfully aware of how much we liked each other. We were both blissfully riding the wave of affection but hadn't really verbally confessed how we felt toward each other yet. At one of the work dinners, a coworker asked, "So, are you two dating?". We both shook our heads, and then the coworker said, "well, would you like to be?" to which we both kinda nodded our heads, shrugged, then quickly changed the subject. A DTR had been thrust upon us that night, so we addressed the tandem shrugs after the dinner. Owen and I remember that conversation differently -- to me, there was no clear relationship defined, but Owen remembers us agreeing to date each other. Regardless, the next few months presented us with PALPABLE tension. At this point, I felt if we didn't kiss soon I would EXPLODE. We had cuddled in movies and hugged goodbye at night, but we were falling in love and falling fast. We had to do something about it. We didn't have a New Year's kiss, but I made it my New Year's resolution to kiss him and put a define this relationship once and for all. So on January 1st, 2022 at the end of the night, we agreed to start this thing for real and had our first kiss ♡ The 5 months leading up to our missions were filled with countless moments that put the greatest chick-flicks and rom-coms to shame. The reality of our connection is something that a screenplay simply can't replicate. Our adventures together had us falling deeper in love, which made it excruciating to leave. But our devotion to God is such a strong component of our relationship and only made us stronger in the end. As most of you may know, I was called to serve in the North Carolina Charlotte mission and Owen was called to serve in the South Carolina Columbia mission. In both of our first areas, we were only 45 minutes apart! Before we left, he said, "we'll be sharing the same clouds!" Until we both got home, we exchanged gifts and letters and talked each p-day. The months when I was home waiting for him were some of the hardest in my entire life. Saying he was "my other-half" is an understatement; He is the part of me that I love the most, I felt weak and lost without him. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but it also made my heart go through a lot of crap. It was during that time that I learned for myself that he was the one I wanted to spend forever with. When he returned, we picked up right where we left off, started rekindling our connection, and making plans for a future together. I would say the rest is history, but this is just the beginning.