It was just a normal weekday afternoon—nothing out of the ordinary. I had clocked out of work, changed into my gym clothes, and headed to my usual spot at the free weights. I was mid-arm workout, probably zoning out between sets, when he caught my eye. At first, I almost missed him. He had on a Hawaiian-print backpack, a scruffy beard, and a hat pulled down low—honestly, I could barely even see his face. But then, through the mirror, our eyes met. Once. Twice. Enough times that it turned into this little flirty game, glancing at each other through reflections, pretending not to look. He was sitting just a few feet away on an arm machine in front of the squat racks. We never said a word, but the energy between us felt loud. I could see him in my peripheral vision, and I think he knew I could. So, when I finished my workout, I wiped down my bench, stood up confidently, and—yes—intentionally walked right in front of him. As I passed, I glanced down at him. He didn’t say anything, but I felt his eyes follow me. I headed to the back of the gym to stretch, and after a few minutes of pretending to stretch while totally looking for him, I realized he was gone. A little disappointed, I figured that was it. Just a passing moment. But what I didn’t know was… he had walked out—then turned around and came back inside. He walked around the gym looking for me. And somehow, just as I was heading toward the locker rooms, he came around the corner from the other direction, a few steps behind me. Then I heard it: “Excuse me, ma’am…” I turned, smiled, and there he was—the mysterious guy with the Hawaiian backpack. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. I said no. Then he asked if I wanted to grab food. I told him I already had plans. So, he asked for my number. I gave it to him. And the rest? That was the beginning of our story—completely unexpected, yet divinely timed. What makes it even more incredible is what I didn’t know until later— That day… was Kai’s very first time back in the gym in over a year. He had debated even signing up for a membership. He wasn’t planning to start going until the next day. But he had stopped at the Panera across the street, and on a whim, decided, “I’ll just go today.” That tiny choice—to walk into the gym that day instead of waiting until tomorrow—changed both of our lives. What seemed like a random encounter was anything but. God was in the details. He was working behind the scenes in the most unexpected place, at the most unexpected time. From that moment on, it somehow just worked out that Kai was always at the gym around 4—right when I got off work. Funny how that happens. (; Only God could’ve written our story this way. And I’m so thankful He did.

I knew it was coming. Kai had already bought the engagement ring, and I knew a proposal was on the horizon. The only thing? The ring was safely tucked away in his truck… back home. We were over 300 miles away on a weekend trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with some of our best friends. So, naturally, I had zero expectations that it would happen on this trip. The day started off normal. We had breakfast, spent the day playing games, exploring the beautiful scenery hiking up a mountain, laughing, and doing all the fun little things Gatlinburg has to offer. After lunch, we all got the craving for fudge, so we looked up a local shop to check out. The first place we found had tricky parking, so we changed plans and ended up at a different store—which, as God would have it, also had a Pandora inside. I didn’t think anything of it. I knew Kai already had a ring, and I knew it wasn’t with us. So I was just happily wandering through the store, checking out souvenirs and fudge and marveling at the fact you could literally pet a bear in the same place you buy chocolate. But while I was distracted, I slowly realized… Kai had disappeared. What I didn’t know at the time was that Kai was off making an unusual number of phone calls—huddled up behind aisles I couldn't see past, asking for advice, coming up with a master plan. While I thought he was off somewhere looking at bear keychains, he was actually coordinating with our mentors and best friends to pull off something unforgettable. And… while I browsed fudge, he was inside Pandora, buying my wedding band. The girls did their best to keep me distracted—and honestly, they were pretty good at it. I had a little gut feeling that something was up, I just didn't know what. We all headed back to the Airbnb, we enjoyed an entire kitchen island nacho bar and ice cream and that evening we joined a mastermind session with our business leadership group. It ran long—past midnight—and by then, I was in full-on PJ mode, assuming nothing was going to happen. Then our friend Julie excitedly asked if we could film a quick “takeaway video” to send to the business owners back home. I was caught off guard, fumbling for words and trying to pull something professional together. She said, “You can even have Kai jump in with you if you want.” I looked over and saw Kai standing behind me, acting kind of awkward and distant. I remember motioning him to come closer, “What are you doing over there? Come up here!” He walked over, Julie hit record, and I dove into my takeaways from the night. Then it was his turn. And everything changed. He started speaking… differently. romantic, emotional, thoughtful. He began saying things about ME that were sweet and deeply personal. I was so confused—like, this is supposed to be business! What are you doing?! And then it hit me. This is it. This is happening. He smiled and quoted Proverbs: "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." Then, in the cozy mountain cabin, surrounded by our best friends and mentors, on our six-months of dating… He got down on one knee. He asked me to be his wife, right there in one of the most meaningful places to me— Tennessee. With a wedding band he picked out that day, after a series of spontaneous twists, divine appointments, and a whole lot of last-minute planning (and phone calls!). It was beautiful. It was imperfectly perfect. And it was us. Only God could have written it this way. And I said YES.