WE'RE GETTING MARRIED

We met for the first time at The Cause Church's VBS in 2022. Jacob had just been hired as production director and I was the VBS coordinator. My dad had come home a week or two earlier telling me about the new church hire, describing him as a recent college grad, very tall, and good looking. I was curious about this new hire, but wasn't interested. Jacob and I saw each other from time to time at church. When he would come in to film something in the toddler Sunday School room, I would suddenly get nervous and would sweat....which was abnormal for me but I didn't think anything of it. Flash forward to January 2023, Jacob reached out to film my testimony for church. (which is an amazing video and I love that my *husband* got to film that for me, if I may add!) After filming my testimony, Jacob reached out to me every now and then asking if I was attending various young adult and church events. In March, I got the hint that he wanted to be friends or something so I invited him to one of my game nights and we then became friends. In April, Jacob asked me to hang out and go estate sale-ing with him. (He thought this was a date, but I was under the impression that because he said hang out, that that is all it was...ladies are you with me?) We had a lot of fun and made plans to hang out again. I ended up leaving for a two week trip to Thailand a couple days after. I did not expect to be texting this boy so much...but I am telling you we did not stop texting during my entire trip. I woke up to texts from him and our conversation would last throughout the day, sometimes waking up in the middle of my sleep to text him back hehe. We both just had so many questions for each other, trying to get to know each other while on opposite ends of the globe. Towards the end of my trip, Jacob definitely hinted that he liked me and asked me on an *actual* date. We made plans to get birthday drinks to celebrate his May 8th and my May 9th birthday when I got back. However, we were both too excited to wait 4 days after I got home so we went on a hike the day after I got home. When I picked him up for our hike, he brought out a birthday gift for me. Jacob painted a watercolor painting of my Thailand birthday sunset, that was the best sunset I had ever seen. Internally, I cried!! It was probably the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me and to think he set time aside to create something that had meant so much to me. After the hike, I thought to myself that I was so excited about this man and saw so much potential in him as a partner. Our "first" date was on May 15th and was a true night to remember LOL. Jacob walked away that night saying "I love you" and thinking he was going to marry me. Jacob asked me to be his girlfriend on May 21st, while we were watching the sunset on the roof. He was so serious, but sincere and I said "yeah". We spent the summer going to baseball games, camping, taking a trip to Lake Arrowhead, taking Hazel to the beach, cooking, dancing in the kitchen, and going to new coffee shops. We were always honest with each and very clear about where we were headed- as a couple. I knew I wanted to marry Jacob in July, as we were watching the sunset in Laguna and I looked up at him and saw the sunset reflect in his eyes and feeling so at peace and so calmed in that moment. Jacob asked my dad for his blessing in early December and proposed a few weeks later on that same beach where I decided I wanted to marry him.