This is my short + sweet version of a much longer story. On May 24, 2021, we met in a hotel conference room in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We were at orientation for FOCUS Summer Projects, a summer job program for Catholic college students. Of the 100 Catholic college students there, we were 2 of 4 from Kentucky, but it took traveling 1,000+ miles to meet. By God’s providence, we were both hired in the same cafe in Colorado, and spent our first shift together working side by side as baristas making lattes. I made the espresso, he frothed the milk, and together we made some pretty good lattes. That summer we both fell deeper in love with the Lord, and slowly became better friends throughout the summer. After three months in Colorado, we both moved back to Kentucky for school, about 1 hour apart. Michael began driving to see me in Louisville most weekends, with the excuse of wanting to practice swing dancing, a hobby we picked up in Colorado. Over the next 7 months, we got pretty dang good at swing dancing. But, in our 10 months as close friends, Michael and I were both discerning religious vocations. After multiple visits to religious communities, Michael and I took some time off from visiting each other to be intentional towards what the Lord was asking of us. When we met up again after our time apart, I (still fully expecting that Michael was on his way to becoming a priest) expressed that the married vocation was something I needed to discern. To my absolute surprise, he shared that he had come to that same conclusion. Not long after that conversation, Michael asked me to go on our first date, March 25, 2022 – 10 months to the day we first met. Two months later, Michael joined FOCUS as a missionary and moved to Texas, beginning our long distance, where our love bloomed through letter writing. When Michael received his next FOCUS placement in Tennessee, I felt the Lord calling me to move so that we could move forward in this beautiful vocation! In July 2023, Michael asked me to marry him, and I was overjoyed to say “Yes!” On our first date, we entrusted our relationship to our Mother Mary, and she has carried us in love since! All for the glory of God.