We're getting married!

Six years ago, Mikela's mom decided to try a new church- one where Shon happened to be the drummer. He saw her in the entryway and thought she was cute, so he convinced his brother to go with him to introduce himself. He kept seeing her every week and developed a crush on her, but never talked to her again (save for a few Facebook messages)(the first one was coincidentally on Valentine’s Day- they should’ve known then). Mikela left for college two years later, and they didn't see each other again until the summer of 2017. Mikela went back to church once she moved home, and Shon still thought she was cute. He saw her from the drum kit again and wanted to reintroduce himself with his newfound look: bald and better-dressed. They talked after church one Wednesday which inspired the beginning of daily conversations. After a few weeks of messaging each other back and forth, Shon asked Mikela out for "don't worry it's not a date" lunch, and the rest was history.

Shon & Mikela are both youth mentors at their church. Last spring, the leadership team planned a fancy event (aka proposal, but Mikela had no idea) for the youth. After the event date was moved around a couple of times, Mikela put the pieces together: the professional photographer "to take pictures for parents," the videographer "to capture material for a promo video," Shon giving the message "because the youth director was busy." Mikela explained her suspicions to Shon the night before, and he did such a great job convincing her otherwise that she thought she’d have to wait months for him to propose. Fast forward 24ish hours- the church was decorated beautifully, everyone was dressed sharply, and the evening began with light music & fancy snacks. Shon taught on the five love languages, and Mikela was his assistant to demonstrate each one. For the final love language, gifts, Shon knelt down on one knee and gave Mikela a gorgeous engagement ring and 34 red roses. Because Shon had done such a good job misleading her, Mikela had no idea what was happening until the moment he asked, so his question was met with a blank stare and the magical response of "...yeaah?" (which in no way matched the joyful excitement in her heart). With that, it was official- they were engaged! Both of their families, who had been watching from a live feed downstairs, came in to celebrate with tears & hugs.