Hey there, this is Noah! I first saw Joni about 5 years ago at St. Stanislaus on the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception. Instantly struck by both her beauty and her singing, I wanted to ask her out that night, but I had just gotten out of a relationship. So, I decided to wait to get to know her. Joni was more captivating than I could’ve ever hoped. When I finally got the courage to ask her out, she had already started dating another man, so I bowed out of her life. #BroCode Over the next few years, I worked at letting go of Joni, but even in the two years I spent at seminary, I couldn’t shake the thought of her.

Hey, it's Joni! New Year’s Eve, Noah and I both showed up to a lil' get together at our friend, Jacob Williamson's. I’d already made plans to go to a place downtown after with a few friends where we knew there would be dancing. Noah heard about this and convinced another dear friend, Emily Pino, to come out with us and invite him along. The plan worked. We all went out! The party was actually super lame and we all bonded over that - particularly the midnight balloon drop that malfunctioned and only dropped a single balloon. Lol. New Year's Day (and the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God) Noah called to ask if I wanted company on my hike the following day as I continued training for my upcoming Grand Canyon trip. We met up on January 2, 2023 in North Park and proceeded to hike ten miles on the Rachel Carson Trail, talking about anything and everything as we went. We had our second date only two days later, and many dates after that.

Noah again! Joni is superbly difficult to surprise, so I staged multiple phone calls with a priest in her presence concerning a fake Mass at Old St. Pat’s, the scene of the engagement. On August 14th, the vigil of the Assumption, Joni walked into the church, secretly thinking I might pop the question that evening, but the décor of the sanctuary didn’t smack of romance. To further throw her off, I asked her to help me grab some candles from a back room. There were candles in that room, all lit and surrounding a record player framed with flowers, a vinyl bearing a ballad I had written for her cued to play. It was approximately 93 degrees in the room, so any nervous sweat on my part was easily excused. The record spun and as its last notes rang out, I pulled the ring out and asked Joni to be my wife. The aforementioned Mass wasn’t a complete façade, as our friend Fr. Nick celebrated a private Mass for us with our best man Nino serving; that tiny church nearly burst with pure joy. Joni here one last time! Noah's right, I am hard to surprise - I had such a strong feeling that he was going to propose to me that night that I had actually written and was carrying a lil' thank you letter to give him right after he asked me. What I 100% did not see coming though was Noah pulling off a big surprise party post-proposal! As we got in the car, he told me that my mom and sister would be meeting us for dinner at his parent's house to celebrate. That much was true, but several dozen other friends also came pouring out from all over once we'd gotten inside!

This is the abridged version of our story. If you ask us to tell you the whole thing, we'll gladly do so. Joni's version will take 5 minutes (still pretty long); Noah's could take up to a half hour - you've been warned. 😉 Reflecting on these past five years, we can't help but be in awe of how God has worked in our lives, and know that the love we have for each other is like a tiny little spark compared to the fire of His love for every one of us, a love which is so real and present even in the hardest periods of our lives. Psalm 37:4 // "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."