Our story began with a cute little high school crush, a crush that became the biggest blessing in my life. When I first met Marie, she felt like a girl that was out of my reach.. She was unbelievably cute, crazy smart, and definitely had the attention of boys that were taller than me. There was no way I could compete for her attention, or at least that’s what I thought. About a year after I met her, she did start to notice me. We became great friends during sophomore year, but it was more than that. Through the flirting and fun in geometry class, something real was starting. As you may know, it took a bit longer for our relationship to officially begin. I will take the blame for that, but Marie never gave up on me. She saw this relationship for what it could be before I did, and I thank God everyday that she did. We started officially dating junior year of high school after a long year of flirting, hint dropping, and her coloring on my hand. Those first few months were different then anything I had experienced. There was something different about Marie. Her witty humor, contagious laughter, beaming smile, and impressive intelligence made me fall in love with her more each day. I had never met anyone else like her in my life. As time continued, and we started counting our relationship length in years instead of months, it became more and more obvious that Marie was my person. From big adventures to trips to the grocery store, we were always having the best time. She has made me enjoy long car rides, standing in line, watching the Bachelor, and many other things. As long as we were together, we were having the best time. During our relationship, we have endured lots of change. Through all of life’s crazy moments and unexpected opportunities, one thing hasn’t changed, our love for each other. Marie has been a rock in my life, and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such an amazing, mature, smart, funny, and most importantly, God-fearing woman. I am beyond excited to marry the person that brings out the best in me, that makes me smile on my bad days, that makes me excited about silly things, and that keeps me strong in my faith. With Marie, I know that life will be so special, and I thank God that he put her in my life. The past six years have been by far the best of my life, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my years with my favorite person, making new memories and loving each other no matter what.

The very beginning of our story starts in the winter of 2018—with a crush I had on Parker for almost an entire year before he ever liked me back (crazy, right?). I remember telling my cousin Anna about him during our family Christmas, and she sent him a Snapchat that said something along the lines of, “Wake up, dude, and realize she likes you.” After that, I think he finally started to pick up on the subtle—or maybe not-so-subtle—flirting. But the moment I knew he liked me back was during a volleyball game our junior year, when he offered to walk me out to my car. We stood outside my car talking for a while, and I had a moment when I just knew we had clicked. Our first date was at a haunted house with some of our friends. We were holding hands for the first time when Parker thought it would be funny to sneak my hand into one of the actors’. When I finally realized I was holding hands with a monster, I completely freaked out—and somehow, even that became one of my favorite memories. Not long after, COVID hit, and we went months without being able to see each other. It was incredibly hard, but it made the days we finally got to be together feel even more special. We lived pretty close throughout college, but I spent nine months in Wausau for clinicals, and Parker transferred to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for his last year. Leaving him after long weekends in Minnesota was always the hardest part. I would drive away with an empty pit in my stomach, knowing it might be a week—or a month—before I would see him again. It was such a lonely feeling, like I was leaving part of myself behind. Still, we made some of our favorite memories during those trips to visit each other, and as cheesy as it sounds, the distance only made our love stronger. By the time we get married, we will have been together for almost seven years—but it feels like just yesterday that I fell in love with this charming, considerate, intelligent, funny, and incredibly handsome person I now cannot imagine a single day without. Parker is the most wonderful person I have ever met. He is thoughtful in big and small ways. He is so loved by everyone around him because he is authentic, kind, and genuinely cares about others. He makes me laugh when I don’t feel like smiling, he challenges me to grow and see things differently and even makes boring everyday tasks enjoyable. Our story is wonderful and uniquely ours, and everything I ever prayed for growing up—and I cannot wait to see how the rest of our story unfolds. 143,66