It all began at Mount Comfort Church of Christ. Kelly had just started attending the same Bible class as Josh and when he walked in and saw her, his first thought was, “wow she’s pretty. I should try to sit next to her.” And after sharing a few words, he sat down beside her. Kelly was oblivious. Months later, Kelly and Josh’s life groups combined, and they got to know each other a little more at a dinner, where Kelly’s friend Brooklyn talked about Kelly’s exciting (she used the word “insane”) adventures and Brooklyn’s husband Gabe decided to set Kelly and Josh up. Kelly was oblivious. In the following months, they saw each other around and Gabe persisted to tell Kelly she should date this fellow, Josh, that she (and Gabe) knew nearly nothing about. Josh and Kelly worked on a team at a game night and Josh thought Kelly had a great sense of humor. Kelly was starting to catch on.

In the spring of 2022 Josh got the courage to ask Kelly on a hike, which was a fail-proof because she always says yes to hiking. They went to Yellow Rock and Josh’s favorite restaurant, Wrights, where Kelly barely ate anything because she’s a notoriously picky eater and he assumed she didn’t like him. But he persevered and asked her to hike again the next weekend. After hiking at Eye of the Needle, they went to Chilis and got to know each other some more. Kelly had guacamole for the 1st time (see I told you she was picky). The next weekend Josh invited Kelly to the movies with some friends and they walked around the mall for a while beforehand and had tacos. She didn’t eat much, and josh thought she was having an awful time and didn’t like him. On a phone call with her mom while they were hanging out, Kelly had an easy opportunity to “friendzone” Josh, but she didn’t, and he thought maybe she did like him after all. To finish out a month of hanging out every weekend, Josh took Kelly to the range to shoot. They had a blast, and he finally worked up the boldness to ask her on a proper date.

After their first date at the Fayetteville food trucks, they went on a beach trip with a dozen friends and went on many charming beach walks after dinner. Later that summer, Kelly went to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail and they missed each other very much. During a phone call, Josh got pulled over for rolling a stop sign 200 yards from his house and in a rush hanging up, he said “I love you, bye.” Kelly was taken aback, assuming it was an accident due to the stress of the moment. When he called back (he didn’t get a ticket), he confirmed he meant it and she said she loved him too. Kelly came back early from her trip to successfully surprise Josh for his birthday and say she loved him in person. On a trip to San Diego, Kelly got to meet Josh’s lovely grandma, who was fighting brain cancer. Among all the fun things they did, they got to go sailing with his grandparents. They also went to the zoo and on some more breath-taking hikes. Over the next year and a half, they had many more adventures, mostly to the Buffalo River. Kelly and Josh’s relationship continued to grow as Kelly graduated her master’s program and they met more of each other’s families.

During the holidays, they visited their families in Mississippi, then California. In San Diego, Josh told his sister, Cynthia, to help Kelly get a cute dress without giving away the surprise. Kelly was oblivious. Somehow, he got Kelly to wear a dress to the beach. Kelly was catching on. When they arrived at the beach in La Jolla, Kelly almost refused to walk out on the slippery rocks because she was wearing a dress (not exactly adventure clothes). Josh convinced her to go out further and he walked in front of a photographer taking pictures of the ocean, which Kelly though was pretty rude of Josh until she realized the photographer was taking pictures of them and Josh was down on one knee asking her to marry him. She said “Of course!” and they took beautiful pictures on the beach and celebrated with Josh’s family at dinner. Since then, Kelly started a new job as a counselor and Josh passed the Professional Engineering Exam. They are overjoyed to begin their life together as a married couple!