Noah: As many of you know, we have played soccer our entire lives, so it was only fitting that it played a role in how we met. I made the journey from Petaluma to begin my college soccer career a week after Mandy began hers. Little did I know, I would soon be meeting my future wife. We loved spending time together with our new group of friends; drinking absurd amounts of Thai tea, playing board games late at night, and surviving our first preseason. Mandy: I don’t know where I stand on love at first sight but I do know that the moment I saw Noah something was different about him. He saw me for who I was from the start, and not for what I did. He wanted to get to know me in the most authentic way. I was drawn to his caring heart and charismatic personality. All I wanted was to spend time with him. We grew in friendship only to start dating a year later, and I was shown that God’s timing in everything is perfect.

Noah: After hanging out with a group of friends one night, Mandy dropped me off at home. I asked her to pull over for a second because I had something to share with her. For the next 5-10 minutes, I proceeded to confess how much I Iiked her, that I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and I could see us spending the rest of our lives together. Awestruck, she proceeded to tell me she needed time to think. Mandy: I guess the best way to describe the whole situation that night was it felt like it came straight out of a movie. From the dramatic, “can you please pull over because I have something important to tell you” to “I’ve had feelings for you for a year now and just can’t wait any longer.” I felt myself asking, “Did I somehow get transported into a romantic comedy?” My crush from the first day of college had just told me he has liked me for as long as I have liked him, and all that could come out of my mouth was “Wow.” After thinking about everything he said, and being a little overwhelmed, I decided to go for it. For the next year and a half, we went on so many adventures with each other and with our friends. We were both pursuing a relationship with God, and in turn, that brought us closer together.

Mandy: While Noah was preparing a beautiful proposal, and planning it with my family and best friends, I was completely oblivious to the whole thing. I try and claim that I had some inkling of what was going on but let’s face it, I had no idea. We hiked to the coast of Point Reyes, where we planned to have a nice lunch together. However, to my surprise, Noah got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. In shock and excitement, I said yes, and then confirmed that this was real life once again. We spent some time alone and I was able to hear about all of the planning and love that was poured into making this moment happen. Little did I know that there was one more surprise at the end of the hike. Our families and best friends were there waiting for us to celebrate! We got to picnic together, take pictures, and just enjoy our favorite people as a newly engaged couple! Noah: There is much planning (as many of you know) and many life questions to answer. Every day we learn more about who we are individually, and more about each other. It is a privilege and incredibly joyful to be pursuing God and planning life alongside your best friend.