Chelsea and JR's love story began at a Thanksgiving church potluck. As they were in the food line together, JR was wearing a "Stay Salty" t-shirt that caught Chelsea's attention. She exclaimed, "do you surf?!" to which he replied, "no, but I love the ocean." That was good enough for Chelsea! She then offered JR her famous brie cheese-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates that she had brought. He shot her a disconcerted look and replied, "those sound weird." He summoned his adventurous energy, grabbed a few bcsbwd's, and sat down with Chelsea and a few others to eat. The event progressed, fun was had, and they parted ways. Several months later, they served in the church’s kid's ministry together as co-teachers. It was a hodgepodge of volunteers that week so they were paired together to face the daunting task of corralling fifteen Kindergarteners for an hour and a half. Chelsea's heart melted when she saw the kids piled up on JR as he read them a storybook. "He's cute AND good with kids??” JR was impressed by how smoothly Chelsea operated the chaotic herd of kiddos. They survived the class then each secretly plotted ways to get to better know the other. JR seized his opportunity the following week when there was a volunteer luncheon. He vowed to speak to Chelsea and ask her out on a date. They both showed up to the event so JR “shot his shot.” Chelsea was surprised and refreshed by his candor, to which she promptly said yes! And they were off! They went on many adventures together and quickly discovered they had the same healthy dose of goofiness mixed with love for deep and stimulating conversation. JR was captivated by Chelsea’s obvious love for Jesus and apparent personal relationship with Him. She provided so many traits that seemed to perfectly balance him out. He realized that she was unlike any other woman he had dated before, and that she stood above the rest. Bottom line: she was not girlfriend material; she was wife material. It took Chelsea a bit longer to figure out the same with JR. Over time, through his steady and measured approach to his walk with the Lord and his sincerity in their relationship, he proved his genuine heart and strong character. She saw that he had walked a hard path in life and was not afraid to let that magnify God’s goodness and power, which inspired her. It was increasingly becoming apparent that this match was going to be a winnahhh. After seven months’ time, JR went ring shopping. Chelsea is the type who does not want a basic diamond ring. He must have looked at a million different options when he finally landed on a green sapphire that the jeweler custom-made. Shortly after, they travelled out to Santa Cruz, CA where they went surfing, explored the Redwoods, and drove down the Big Sur coast. Once he received her family’s stamp of approval after the jam-packed weekend of visiting, the course was set! Next up, was the proposal. He, seemingly casually, showed Chelsea a slideshow of photos from a recent trip he had taken. She had no idea that he had slipped in a selfie video from their backpacking trip in the Smokies from early in their dating. This video popped up, revealing the content to be of JR declaring his love for Chelsea about three months into their relationship. He knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that he wanted to marry her and commit to her for the rest of his life. As the brief video ended, he knelt down on a knee, grabbed the ring he had strategically placed underneath the couch, and asked her to marry him. Chelsea was completely caught off guard, and yet, so very happy. She gave a resounding YES! The remainder of the night, they celebrated with family followed by a fancy dinner out on the town. The Lord even winked at them by causing them to “run into” their good photographer friend on Broadway who snapped a few professional photos of their magical evening. The rest is history!