It all started when Nathan met his future teammate, and now best man, Caleb Coley at the Passion Conference at the end of 2022. The first Sunday Nathan was at MSU Caleb brought him to church, where Caleb introduced me to Nathan. I then invited Caleb and Nathan for pancakes back at my house with some of our friends. Nathan said that he would love to, but Caleb informed us that the two of them had other plans and that they weren't coming over. :( (You should hear Caleb explain this part!) The next Tuesday we were both at our campus ministry of Athletes in Action, and as I was headed to tell Philly (the leader) that I was going on the South Africa mission trip I overheard him talking to Nathan about going. I told Nathan that I was going and that I was happy that he had the opportunity to go as well. Later that week I found Nathan's Instagram and DM'd him to inform him I was having friends over for brunch after church, and that he was invited as well. While everyone was over for brunch, the group was trying to convince me to go on the AIA winter retreat. Caleb ended up calling my mom and explaining to her that I needed to attend. Caleb pointed the camera around to everyone in the group so she could see who all was going. Later that night I called my mom just to talk to her and I told her that there might be a guy I wanted her to meet. She said, "Let me guess... the guy that was in the back of the FaceTime call?" Sure enough my mom is always right! After that Sunday Nathan and I got talking, and since I am not the best at texting back... I asked him if we could just FaceTime while I got my letters done for South Africa. That quickly moved to 2-3 hours of Face Timing. I had to go to work so I told him I would talk later but he knew I didn't have a ride home that night and that I would either be walking or finding an Uber home. So instead, he came and picked me up after work and drove me back to my place. We talked for a very long time and learned a lot about each other. I ended up going on the winter retreat and we had a lot of deep and personal conversations, everything was so natural and easy with him. Quickly after that, I asked him if he wanted to come to my parent's house for my mom's birthday and he said yes. So my parents met him early on and I could tell that they liked him. When we got back to East Lansing he asked me to be his girlfriend. About a month later we went to South Africa together and that's where I knew this was going to be a forever thing. Watching each other serve and interact with other people is still one of our favorite memories from that trip. Nathan and I have been very intentional with our dating relationship from the very beginning, knowing pretty early this was going to be much more than casual dating relationship. Nathan met with our Athletes in Action leader Phil every week and I met with his wife Julie each week. We then began meeting as a couple with both Phil and Julie. That time allowed us to ask many questions and they helped us grow through our relationship together. We continue to still meet both separately and as a couple, but now it is more focused on our premarital counseling. Phil and Julie have been one of the biggest blessings in our lives. Nathan and I had been talking about marriage and it was something we both felt was right. He proposed to me right after one of his best games, after he scored three touchdowns! We were "walking to his car" after the game but cut through the botanical gardens and everything was set up there so beautifully. There were rose petals and a red carpet and letters that said "Marry Me". The MSU band ended up playing the fight song in the background of him reading his letter to me and it was absolutely perfect! We then went to a restaurant where our families were waiting for us and it was amazing to share that time with them as well. We cannot wait to see what else God has planned for us!