We were both encouraged by people in our lives to take a chance and attend an Orthodox singles retreat in Pennsylvania in late February of this year. Neither of us felt an ounce of optimism about meeting a spouse there, but we were willing to give it a shot. Caleb drove 11 hours from Alabama and Mariah drove 3 hours from Northern Virginia. We each arrived, checked in, and attended the first event, an evening Vespers service. When Mariah was leaving the service, she remembers telling herself to mingle. She saw a few guys standing around and walked up to introduce herself. The first guy she met just so happened to be Caleb. We talked for a bit and then headed to dinner together. Over the next two days, we continued to interact, and by Saturday afternoon, we were both pretty smitten and had already exchanged phone numbers. That evening, we went to dinner together, then paired off and talked for hours. Clearly, there was something here, and we both knew it. The last day of the retreat was Sunday, and as we said goodbye, Mariah slyly told Caleb to give her a call, “you know, just in case you need someone to talk to on the long drive home.” Caleb casually reminded Mariah that there are frequent direct flights between Huntsville and Dulles International, a quick 15-20 minute drive from Mariah’s house in Virginia. We started a phone call while Caleb was just north of Cincinnati on his way home and talked for 9 hours straight. At 4am we finally said “good night” and went to bed. While we might have been zombies at work the next day, we were both floating enough to make up for it. Unsurprisingly, we were both in bed early the next evening, and while we did not talk on the phone that night, we have done so most every day since. By the end of the next day, we had already finalized plans to see each other again. Caleb went up to Northern Virginia in late March, where he first told Mariah he loved her, and Mariah told him the same. Mariah then went down to Alabama at the end of April for a NASCAR race and Caleb’s birthday. We then pulled off a huge surprise for Mariah’s family in Montana, flying across the country and showing up unannounced for Memorial Day weekend. The surprise was Mariah’s idea, but, not to be outdone, Caleb had an even bigger surprise planned for her. Having finally met Mariah’s dad and asked his blessing, on Friday, May 23rd, Caleb asked Mariah to be his wife, and she said YES! After a few more plane rides out of Dulles and Huntsville, Mariah will be moving down to Alabama in September ahead of our wedding. While we have enjoyed our weekly FaceTime dates, we will be more than happy to trade those for in-person dates, as well as not having to buy so many plane tickets. (though we certainly owe our thanks to United and Allegiant. We hope you enjoyed the slight bump our budding romance gave to your multi-billion dollar revenue figures!) With God’s help, as our own two paths merge into one to start a new family, we are thankful for everyone who has helped us become who we are today, and we cannot wait to celebrate this wonderful day with all of you!