It took a surprising number of oddly specific decisions to get us both standing next to each other at the Christmas party where we met. Conner had just joined one of the churches hosting and put in PTO from the firehall to go, hoping to meet a few new people. Mary Cayten didn’t attend either church but decided to stop by to see old friends before the holidays- and because she was hoping for a good cookie. (She never got one, but Conner has been bringing her cookies ever since.) She and her roommate had made a pact to stay for just an hour and not meet anyone new so they could get to bed early. Instead, hours later, they were the last ones getting politely kicked out after Mary Cayten spent the evening talking with a certain tall and handsome stranger. We had spent most of the night in different rooms, only ending up next to each other when a raffle brought everyone into one space. Conner happened to be standing behind Mary Cayten, talking to someone about Gladiator 2. She had just seen it, turned around, and joined the conversation. But Conner had already noticed her- specifically, her long hair (Mary Cayten and her roommate had used the party as an excuse to try out a new hair tool- guess it worked!) and the way she talked and laughed with the people around her. From there, the conversation flowed easily: families, work, God, cold plunges… Conner reached out the next day to ask her on a date, but Mary Cayten said no. A few days before the party, she had committed to spending the next month and a half preparing for a time of prayer and fasting- and part of that meant not having the distraction of getting to know someone new. Eager to see Conner again, she made sure he knew the “no” was only temporary and that he was welcome to reach out again after the fast. During the time between when we met and our first date, Mary Cayten’s family experienced a profound loss. Conner managed the weight of that with an incredible amount of grace and continued to do so with each of the surprising number of trials our early relationship faced (including our first Valentine’s Day spent at a funeral). But the kinds of things that might have strained a new relationship instead gave us a chance to see, early on, how we handle hardship and fall more deeply in love with each other’s character throughout. And yet, from the start, there has been so much joy- ridiculous inside jokes, at home dance lessons, handwritten letters, red light kisses, shared prayers, intentional conversation, googly eyes and sticky rubber chickens, calendar invites, flowers in vases and behind ears, family time, roommate hangs, great communication, chicken nugget runs… We joke that we started talking and laughing the minute Conner picked Mary Cayten up for our first date and just haven’t stopped since. Dating, and now being engaged, has felt both incredibly natural and genuinely fun. The foundation we’ve built has us so excited about marriage: about drawing closer to each other, supporting the people around us, and building a life that honors the Lord daily.