"The decision to set up Justin & Mariah was pretty easy! I had just come back from a ski trip with Justin and it was so clear that he was steadfast, a leader, easily interruptible, fun, very easy going, adventurous, trustworthy and sought opportunities to serve others! Justin is a STUD on the slopes, he’ll probably be humble and brush it off, but he makes the people behind him eat snow. Literally, that man could do a double black diamond and make it look easy. The best part about that is not that Justin is a stud skier, but rather how quick he was to use his talents to serve others and just be with people who were not as skilled/experienced, caring that they would have fun and feel included! Justin is trustworthy and like my roommate and I always say, if we trusted anyone with our social security number, it would be Justin. I returned from this trip and I knew he needed to date the most amazing girl. It didn’t even take me a moment to have the best girl in mind, which is where Mariah comes into the story! I met Mariah in August 2020 in the Watermark Institute. Having about 6 months to see the many ways Mariah was quick to sacrifice her time and resources to love, encourage, listen and just be with people - I knew she would need to do life with someone who was just as willing to sacrifice for the people around them. Mariah is quite literally the most fun, adventurous and “lover of life” individual that I know! Both she and Justin love experiences in life and rather than wait for them to come, they seek them out and soak up each moment in its fullness. Mariah is courageous, bold and honest. Mariah knows who she is and whose she is! I set up Mariah and Justin because I was confident Justin would champion and challenge Mariah to be completely herself and run fast after Jesus! I knew that Mariah’s contagious/vibrant personality and love for the Lord would be a fun match for someone so steady, meek and intentional in his pursuit of Jesus like Justin." - Bailey Tiefenbrunn

"In early January 2021, I was on a ski trip with a group of friends from Dallas, one of whom was Bailey Tiefenbrunn. After dinner one night, we were sitting around the table and the topic of blind dates came up. Bailey asked a few of the guys that were there if we would ever go on a blind date. I remember saying “yes, I’d be open to that” but didn’t really think much of it. Two weeks later, on February 2nd, I got the following texts from Bailey: “Justin. You’re not going on dates with anyone right???!!! I have the perfect woman that I totally think you should ask on a date” Looking back, those are likely the most monumental texts I have ever received. Clearly, I said yes and that I would be glad to take this mystery girl out on a date. Bailey sent me Mariah’s contact info and I called her that same day, February 9th, 2021. Mariah actually ignored my call and sent me to voicemail, so I had to leave a message essentially introducing myself since we had never met, and asking that she call me back. Thankfully, she didn’t make me wait long and when she called me back, I asked if we could go get dinner. We went on our first date February 19th, 2021 and I remember being stunned by how comfortable I felt around this girl I had never met before, and how easy it was to spend hours talking with her. I came home to my roommate that night and mentioned that I thought I might have just met someone really, really special, but I was trying to avoid letting myself think too far ahead after just one date."

"Less than a month later, on our fourth date, we were sitting at White Rock Lake eating lunch and playing a game continuing to get to know one another. It was one of those moments in your life that you truly never want to end (I actually got sunburned on just one side of my body because I didn’t want to move and disrupt the fun I was having). I vividly remember thinking to myself, “I could marry this girl”, as I learned more about her and saw for the first time so many of the qualities I have come to love about Mariah. Through our conversation, I saw how deeply she loved the Lord and how she had submitted countless times to His will for her life. I saw her compassion for her family and friends and how much she cared for those close to her. I saw how diligent and hardworking she was. And as our date went on, and we made our way to a pickleball court, I got to see how athletic and fun she was (as she proceeded to obliterate me in 7 straight sets). By the end of that date, I was confident I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Mariah (sounds crazy right?), but I kept trying to tell myself to slow down and not get too far ahead of myself, especially because I wasn’t quite sure if Mariah even liked me."

"Turns out, Mariah wasn’t quite sure either. Even though I had made things “official” with her in late March, by late April she was in the midst of what we’ve come to refer to as “the freakout”. She called me one Friday and let me know she was on the way to the airport and was flying home for the weekend because she needed time to think and figure things out. As you might imagine, my radar immediately went off that something was wrong, but I had no idea what or why. Turns out, she was considering breaking up with me because she wasn’t sure if she liked me and could tell I was getting more serious. Thankfully, she didn’t tell me all of that at the time and, more importantly, she didn’t break up with me. Through lots of prayer and counsel from her friends and family, she decided to give our relationship more time."

"A few weeks later, we were on a weeklong vacation with her family. We spent time in Florida for a wedding and then spent a few days at Lake Martin. It was the first time I had gotten to spend meaningful time with Mariah and her family and I remember being in awe of how close they were and how Mariah lit up around them. As I got to know Steve, Ceci and Natalie better, I felt like I understood more of who Mariah was and it was on this trip, while we were sitting on the back deck of the Hightower’s lake house, that I knew I was going to marry Mariah. [Don’t forget, this was less than a month after the “freakout”, but I knew it was pointless for me to try to convince myself to slow down or not let myself think that far ahead.] I knew I had found the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. That trip was the start of an incredible summer spent with Mariah. She had just finished the Watermark Institute and wasn’t starting a job until mid August, and I wasn’t staffed on a deal for my job, so we got to spend time together pretty much nonstop. It felt like we crammed 9 months of dating into 3 with how much quality time we spent together. We spent days at the pool, or playing pickleball, or traveling with each of our families and through all of it my feelings continued to grow for Mariah. I got excited thinking about a future with her and I started to sense that she felt the same way. Midway through the summer, we had a conversation about what a timeline for marriage could potentially look like. I remember being stunned and elated as the girl who wasn’t even sure if she liked me two months earlier (true story, ask her) proceeded to tell me that the idea of being married a year from then (i.e. June 2022) didn’t freak her out."

"A month later, as the summer came to an end, we spent a weekend in California with Mariah’s parents and I got to ask Steve for permission to marry his daughter. Thankfully, he said yes and from then on, the planning was on to pull off a surprise engagement. Mariah’s biggest wish was that she be completely surprised when she got engaged, so I was determined to make that happen. Fast forward to October 16 and in the words of Mariah, we had her “perfect day”. It was a classic fall day, and we spent much of it outside. In the afternoon, she started getting ready for what she thought was a work dinner we had at my boss’ house in Highland Park. I picked her up and drove her to Lakeside Park, the location of countless walks and picnics. Instead of going into a home for the “dinner”, I walked her to a small sitting area and proceeded to tell her why I loved her and wanted to marry her. She stared back at me with a blank look and one that hinted at annoyance (she would tell me later she was frustrated that I would say these things without actually proposing… she truly had no clue what was coming in a few moments). After a few more words, I did what I had been dreaming of since my fourth date with Mariah. I got down on a knee and asked the woman of my dreams and my absolute best friend to marry me!" - Justin