Blake & Julianne met on a Christian dating app called Upward. On March 22nd of 2021 Blake messaged her, being charming as always asking what her ideal first date would be. "Blake caught my eye because of his smile... and also because he had puppies surrounding him in the picture." "I knew as soon as I saw Julianne that she was special. I knew that I had to meet her, and was super excited when we matched. (This coming from someone who hated the idea of dating apps, and had just sworn I'd use it for no more than 3 days the night before.) " As Blake & Julianne started talking, they knew right away they wanted to meet each other. Julianne would even say she knew Blake was the one for her before we even met up! After 26 days of messaging and hours of FaceTiming, Blake came to Michigan for a day on April 17th of 2021, to meet Julianne for the first time, and to meet her parents. their first date was at Panera Bread, and they both lost their appetites from nerves! They instantly clicked, and Julianne went to go visit Blake's family for the first time May 6th of 2021, and while there, Blake asked Julianne to be his girlfriend (May 7th)! The rest is history! They both love the Lord, and have Him as the center of their relationship.

On May 6th Julianne made her way down to Ohio for her first time to meet Blakes family with her mom! The next day, Blake took Julianne to one of his favorite spots, a mountain lookout over downtown Lancaster. Blake told Julianne they were doing a Bible study once they got to the lookout. They started hiking up the trail and about 3 minutes in, Blake started to act tired and stood around "out of breath". There was a hole in the ground with a plastic bag sticking out. Julianne looked at it and said "Oh my gosh there's a letter in there....! With the letter J on it!" it was actually a 1.. She just held it upside down. Once she opened it, and read that it was a scavenger hunt, she knew it was for her! There were letters all the way up the trail to the lookout. Once they got to the top, Blake asked Julianne to be his girlfriend, she said yes and hugged him. Blake then said 3 little words... "I love you" Julianne paused because she didn't expect it, and was so excited. She scared Blake with her pause, and then said "I love you too!!"

Blake took Julianne to downtown Holly, MI, and surprised her with a Hallmark like proposal in a lit alleyway. Right after He asked her the big question, it started to snow! Filled with tears (of joy!) Julianne was freezing, so we got hot chocolate while she processed what had happened, and then took beautiful pictures with their photographer. They then were lead on stage for the parade to re-perform the engagement for the audience, and then got a free carriage ride around the beautiful little town. Next, they headed to Bronner's Christmas store with Julianne's family to get custom Christmas ornaments. Blake took Julianne to get her nails done, they went to their favorite date place, Mod Pizza, and then went back to Julianne's house to reminisce on the wonderful day.