"Did you know I call you my twin in my head?" That was probably the first thing I said to Jair Mobley. We'd been in the same friend group since freshman year, but up until that point, the two of us had never really interacted. It was a weird (but true) thing to say, and it definitely got his attention. I realized Jair liked me as we were driving back from a party. There was a little incident in which Madalyn (the driver) fake-swerved to freak out Joseph (riding shotgun), who was making fun of her driving. It worked, and Joseph pretended to be scared into silence the rest of the trip. (Which was a feat for him.) That provided the perfect opportunity for Jair to get to know me better. And I provided very short answers to all of his questions because I was definitely not interested. From then on, I proceeded to perform the very difficult balancing act of staying "just friends" with Jair without encouraging him in any way. Fast forward to junior year. I'm still not interested in Jair. But this year, I started to realize what a great friend he was and how much I enjoyed being around him. I thought of him as dependable, honest, loyal, and comforting to be around. When he needed someone to drive him to the airport to pick up his guitar, I found myself really wanting to be the one to drive him. Not because I liked him, of course. I just like driving. On the drive there, we talked about all sorts of things... which was odd because I find it very difficult to make conversation with most people. In addition, I even sang to my music, and he sang along with me. I'm typically very shy about sharing my music with others, not to mention singing along to it in front of them. But, you know, none of this meant I liked him. I stopped fooling myself the following summer. As I worked at Cedarville, Jair had an internship in California. I was acutely aware of the distance between us, and I found myself missing him immensely. I texted him a couple times over the summer to see how he was doing, and we had a few nice conversations. It started to get through to me that I might like Jair after hanging out with my friend, Sarah. As we talked, I couldn't seem to stop talking about Jair. I remember her looking at me with amusement as she told me, "Karenna... I think you like Jair." I denied it, of course. I texted Madalyn, who was in Ecuador, to try to sort out my feelings. I talked to Elise about it, too. But I was sure that I did not like Jair. That lasted for about a week. It wasn't smooth sailing from there. The following semester, I'd go back and forth on whether I wanted to date him or not. I didn't want to risk our friendship. I was finding, though, that he was the person I most wanted to be around. Near the end of the semester, I started giving signals. I invited him to Thanksgiving, I invited myself to go to Walmart with him, I let him push me around in a cart at Lowe's, and, as we were leaving a Christmas party, I tried to convince him to ditch the other people in our car so we'd have the drive to ourselves. I finally worked up the courage to tell Madalyn to tell Spencer to tell Jair to ask me out. And he did. Things were extremely awkward the week leading up to the date. But, for me, the date was great. Once again, I found that the conversation flowed pretty easily, and I was telling him things I only tell the people I trust most in my life. Unfortunately, we had to leave things in a precarious position at the end of the semester. But before we left, I assured him that I was going to give this a real shot. The rest of the story has a lot of ups and downs, but over the months, we learned that we can work our way through anything, find joy in the smallest moments, encourage growth in one another, and depend on God through it all. It's been wonderful to see just how well we work together, both in our differences and our similarities. I am truly blessed to have fallen in love with Jair Mobley.

The first time I even knew who Karenna was, all I remember thinking is "who's that girl?" About a year later, I had gotten to know Karenna and her good friends because of many nights studying in the Tyler building at Cedarville. Joseph and I would spend time with Karenna, Madalyn, Sarah, and Andrew Davis (all of which are in the wedding party!) working on various assignments, playing Stardew Valley for a short stint, and generally laughing and having a good time. The climactic moment that year was a hangout at their friend Cale's house, where I, for the first time, realized I might like this Karenna girl. (I watched her play drums for Rock Band in the basement of Cale's house.) Seems silly, but I just knew I wouldn't meet another woman like her. Months go by, and I was increasingly worried that things with Karenna might not work out, and at the end of Sophomore year, my worst scenario came true. Karenna did not like me. I was really dramatic about it. Joseph can testify to the many nights where he heard Karenna's name. Still, I stayed friends with Karenna, and she seemed to get closer to me. One day in particular, I needed a ride to the airport to pick up some luggage delayed in transit. Karenna offered to take me. Of course I didn't want to make things awkward, so I tried to politely decline. She pressed, so I told her that she could take me. I remember afterwards telling Joseph that I didn't know how things were going to turn out, and that there were still plenty of times I wish I got to know Karenna more. The next year, I got my wish. Karenna and I spent a couple different moments together, though I was confused as to where we stood. I knew that if I asked her out and she wasn't interested, I would immensely regret ruining our friendship. Things took a turn when Karenna and I were having lunch, and she spontaneously asked me if I wanted to come with her to her family's for Thanksgiving. I didn't know what to say, since I already had other plans, so I told her I couldn't. But that question still lingered. I didn't know whether she liked me, or was just being silly. After Thanksgiving, though, Karenna asked me if I could take pictures for her senior recital posters. I did so, and when we were in the car I told her that I needed to go to Walmart to pick up a Secret Santa gift. All she said was, "I'm going with you!" That's when my face went red and just replied with, "Okay!" and drove to Walmart with her. Finally, after a cumulative two years of "will-they-won't-they," we went to Lowe's together. Our friend Mickey wanted to build a bookshelf, and asked if we wanted to come with him. Mickey even noticed our chemistry and took a video of us from far away saying, "Look at those lovebirds." Afterwards, I was talking to Spencer Bills (also a groomsman), and told him about our trip. All he said was, "Oh, yeah. You and Karenna. Is anything happening there?" I responded with, "I don't know! You tell me!" Spencer, being engaged to Karenna's roommate Madalyn, was able to ask around, until he finally told me, "You need to ask her out. ASAP." Needless to say, I was terrified. I was walking with her the next day, split off from our other friends, and walked with her to her dorm. "I've had a really fun time hanging out," I said to her, "Would you want to do something more official?" I ran back to my dorm room, so excited I could barely focus. My friend Scott came in the room as I was playing a Jazz vinyl and humming along. He asked me how I was doing, and of course I told him, "Pretty good, actually. I just got a date." "Wait, who?" he asked. "Karenna." The shock he had in his expression just made me even more excited. Our relationship has had lots of uncertain moments. I remember many times realizing that I was in way over my head. But I will never forget God's faithfulness in bringing us together. We've been through so many transitions together already, and I can't wait to go through the changes of life with my best friend.