THIS JUST GOT REAL

We were signed up to go on the same spring break mission trip to East Palo Alto, CA through GVSU Campus Ministry. We first met at a team meeting at a food place on campus, but we didn't think much of it. I have vivid memories of small interactions with him during the beginning of the trip, but we didn't really start talking until he was demonstrating some bird calls to the group that he had to memorize for a class. We started talking silly pictures on Snapchat and hiding out in the kitchen at 3am with our friend Kendra while everyone else was sleeping and the three of us ate cookie dough. After we got back from the trip, he pursued me very intentionally. This included offering to drive me literally everywhere, asking me to go on random errands (including to pet cats at the pet store - he truly knows the way to my heart), and inviting me over to do homework and eat ice cream together (food is the other way to my heart). We also discovered that we had a class together that semester, so we started sitting by each other and hanging out every chance that we had. He ended up becoming my best friend, and the rest is history!

On February 2nd, 2017 I met up with 14 other students on campus for an informational meeting about the spring break missions trip we were about to embark on the next month to California. We met up at a food place on campus at Grand Valley State University, and this is when I first met Kim. The first time that we met, neither of us really thought anything of it, and while I obviously thought she was pretty attractive, I really wasn't looking for a relationship while on the trip. While I was on the trip, I had a blast helping out with bible studies and after school tutoring, and I also quickly connected with everybody on the trip, which is rare for me usually. About halfway through the week, I started hanging out with a couple girls, who were Kim and Kendra. My first fond memory of the three of us hanging out is when I caught them in the kitchen eating cookie dough, and I joined them. That was about the time when I started to notice Kim a little more, and as the trip went on I became more and more attracted to her as I got to know her. For about a month after the trip ended, all 15 of us would still meet up to hang out at different places and events, so whenever we did that I would always ask Kim if she wanted a ride. At the same time, I would ask her over to study and do homework together, which was easy because we had apparently been in the same class for the first half of the semester without even realizing it until after the trip. After several nights of doing homework together, giving her rides to our spring break group gatherings, and late night car rides which would last until 5 in the morning sometimes, I finally built up the courage to ask her out. The rest is history!