We officially met at church on September 9, 2018, shared a conversation about The Lord of the Rings, and went our separate ways. Then Janice signed up to be a communication group leader for Spanish 101, and Sam was one of her students! Through that, we learned a bit about each other – for instance, that Sam has 7 siblings, and both of us were homeschooled. Then we both started attending Calvin Board Game Guild, and played several games together (or against each other…we’re both extremely competitive!). After a late night of board games, someone in the group suggested meeting on the weeks in between the monthly Guild events, and Janice suggested the basement of her apartment. These smaller board game nights were where we really became friends. Janice considered it a significant victory to beat Sam in a game, and before long, something of a rivalry sprang up. Fast forward to Fall 2019, and we were teasing each other mercilessly over the board game table. By January, Janice realized that she liked Sam, and a week later Sam asked her to lunch! Unfortunately, he forgot to use the word “date,” and so commenced a month of wondering on both sides. Finally, on February 21st, Sam asked Janice on a date, and she happily agreed! Date #1 was a great time of getting to know each other better, and after date #2, we became “official.” Janice graduated in May, and Sam got to meet her family at the party before heading back to MN. Summer 2019 was a busy time for both of us—Sam was interning at Sage Glass in MN, and Janice was job hunting in MI. Still, Sam made it out to MI for the 4th of July, and then returned for his senior year at Calvin just as Janice started working full time. Janice got to meet Sam’s family over Thanksgiving, after which we started talking seriously about marriage. By January, Sam was ring shopping. He proposed on February 1st 2020, and Janice happily said yes! We are eager to pursue the Lord and each other as we step into this new life together.