The first time Caitlin and I met was after a Women’s Volleyball game during the fall of our Freshman year of college. I was friends with Abby Blackwell, who introduced me and a few other friends to Caitlin, who was visiting Abby for the weekend. My first impression was that Caitlin was really cute, but I didn’t think too much of this. Later that night, we went out with a group of friends to Chick-fil-A, but I don’t remember interacting too much with Caitlin that night. Caitlin left later that weekend, and I remember telling my friend that I thought that Caitlin was cute. He tried to convince me to ask her out, but I decided I was not ready to start a relationship yet. After meeting Caitlin that weekend, I didn’t fully like her yet, but I definitely didn’t forget about her. We started following each other on Instagram, which ensured Caitlin never went too far out of mind. Then, in the middle of the spring semester, Caitlin came down to visit Abby again. This time, there were 4 of us who went to In-N-Out, and I started to get to know Caitlin a little bit better. I became more and more interested, but Caitlin was pretty shy so it was hard to tell what she was really like. We hung out as a group a few more times that weekend, and then we had a volleyball game that Saturday, which Caitlin and Abby watched. After the game, I went over to talk to Caitlin and Abby, and I knew I was starting to take an interest in Caitlin. She was really kind and gentle, and I was starting to think about if I should ask her out on a date. After the game, we were going out to Chick-fil-A (of course, Chick-fil-A is a classic), but this time my youngest brother Josh tagged along. I was debating whether or not to ask for Caitlin’s phone number, but I decided not to because I didn’t want to ask her in front of Josh, and I knew I could ask Abby for it instead. After Caitlin left that weekend, I spent some time deliberating, praying, and asking my friends and family for advice on what to do next. Abby ended up sending me Caitlin’s phone number before I even asked, which gave me the idea that Caitlin was possibly interested in me as well. I got the impression Caitlin would probably say yes if I asked her to go on a date with me, so that’s what I decided to do. I sent Caitlin a long paragraph about how I thought she was really pretty and that I wanted to go on a date with her to get to know her better. By the grace of God, she said yes! We planned to go to Stonefire and Crumbl Cookies by where she lived in Fullerton. During the date, I was having a great time, and I could tell she was a really cool person who loved Jesus. It turned out Crumbl Cookies was closed that night, so we ended up going to a worship night at Biola, where Caitlin was going to school. It turns out almost all of Caitlin’s friends, including Abby, came mainly to spy on us. I thought this was funny and sweet how much Caitlin’s friends cared about her. After the worship night, I didn’t want the date to end, so we ended up going out to In-N-Out to get some food and milkshakes. Then, when we were finally driving back to Caitlin’s house, I remember her asking something to the effect of, “So, are we going to do this again?” I was kind of caught off guard, but I was having so much fun, I decided I wanted to go on another date! We decided we would text to figure out a date that worked for both of us, which ended up not being for about another three weeks. After two more dates, I decided I really liked this girl and I wanted to ask her if she would be my girlfriend. Thankfully, she was hinting that she really liked me, so I could tell she was going to say yes! Right after our volleyball season ended, I went to visit Caitlin, and we went on a walk around a lake near her house, where I asked her to be my girlfriend. Thankfully, she said yes, and we have been continuing to grow closer to each other ever since!

The first time I ever heard of Matthew was in a text from Abby Blackwell. She sent me a first day of school picture of her friends and said I’d really like one of the guys. I said he looked nice but I wasn’t interested! Abby didn’t take my “no” for an answer, kept texting me about Matthew! I finally agreed to come visit her at TMU, where I met Matthew in a group of people. Unfortunately, I have no memory of this event! I do remember going out to Chick-fil-a with the group, and Matthew being there. I also remember playing card games with him in a group until about 2am one night that weekend. I went home from that visit and completely forgot about Matthew (yikes!). I went to visit Abby several months later. She signed me up to be Matthew’s partner for a Men’s Volleyball ping pong tournament. I remember feeling a bit shocked at her boldness, but thought it would probably be fun. We ended up going to In-n-Out instead, and that was interesting! It was basically a double date. In an attempt to keep the awkwardness away, Abby and I did almost all the talking. All I really learned about Matthew that night was his age and major! When Abby and I got back to her dorm that night, I vividly remember telling her he was so sweet, but I didn’t think he was interested. She told me, “Tomorrow, if he comes over to us after the game, we’ll know he’s interested, because he never comes over to talk to just me after the games.” After his game the next day, Matthew came over to talk to us, and Abby just looked at me like “See? I told you so!” We went to Chick-fil-a really quickly, and Matthew and I had a short conversation while we waited for our food, but again, we didn’t get to know much about each other. When we got back to campus, I left right away. I remember him slowing down as he drove away to say goodbye to me and my mom. That made me think he might be a little interested. I figured I’d hear from Abby if he was going to ask me out, so I didn’t think much about him once I got home. A few days later, I got a text from Matthew while I was working out with my mom. He said he enjoyed being with me, thought I was “really pretty” and wanted to get to know me better. I thought he was very sweet, but I panicked and didn’t respond for a few hours! We ended up going out the next weekend to Stonefire and Biola for a worship chapel. Abby and several of my friends crashed our date at that point. The worship night was very strange, and I had to do some serious damage control after that to convince Matthew I didn’t have crazy beliefs! I don’t think he wanted the date to end, so we went to In-n-out, got shakes, and talked for a long time. It was so fun! When we were almost back to my house, I remember asking him if we were going to go out again. I think I surprised him, but he said he wanted to see me again! It was about three weeks before our schedules lined up. We went to the beach and just talked for our second date. The picture we took that day is one of my favorite photos! I saw Matthew one more time before he left for Iowa for volleyball, and this was the first time he put his arm around me (I thought it was sweet how respectful he was of me). He went to Iowa and we facetimed almost daily. I remember him telling me he missed me while he was gone, and I immediately texted Lauren freaking out about how sweet and genuine he was! Right when he got back from Iowa, he drove down to come to my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary party. After the party, we went to our neighborhood lake and sat on a bench, under a tree. Matthew told me what he loved about me and asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes! We went to Wood Ranch with my whole family that night, and when we got there, my dad said “So Matthew, I hear you want to talk to me about something.” How very subtle! They went outside and Matthew asked him for permission to date me officially. They came back inside smiling, so I’m still assuming that conversation went well! The rest is history :)

After dating for about two years, I decided for sure that I wanted to marry Caitlin in the spring of my Junior year of college. I had known that our relationship was headed towards marriage. Still, I finally got the confirmation and clarity I needed after talking to several older people in my life and spending a lot of time in prayer. Caitlin and I had several conversations about getting married, so the fact that I was going to propose at some point in the summer was not a surprise to her. In fact, we went ring shopping together to get her sized for a ring and for her to try on a few different rings to see what she liked. She told me which ones were her favorite, and then it was up to me to buy the right one, which was a long process of trying out several different jewelers until I finally found the right one. Before I bought the ring and began planning the proposal, I asked Caitlin’s dad if I could meet with him to ask for his blessing for me to marry Caitlin. He absolutely knew this was coming, which was helpful since he was able to come up with several topics for us to talk about. We went out to lunch when Caitlin was on a trip for her friend’s bachelorette party, and after a good conversation, Mr. Perry gave me his blessing to marry Caitlin. I was ecstatic, as I was just one step closer to proposing to Caitlin. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to propose to Caitlin. I knew I wanted it to be somewhere outdoors, and I knew she wanted to be wearing nicer clothes. I have never been able to pull off big surprises on Caitlin, since I am a bad liar and she can usually tell I am acting weird if I am planning to surprise her. So, I came up with the idea of asking several of Caitlin’s friends to help me surprise Caitlin. I figured if Caitlin could go somewhere with her friends, she wouldn’t be suspicious because she wouldn’t even know I was there. I decided on Crystal Cove as the place where I would propose, because I thought this would be a pretty beach and that it wouldn’t be too crowded. I got Caitlin’s friends to plan a “girls beach trip”, where they went to Shake Shack and down to the beach at Crystal Cove. I drove all the way from Fresno on the day I was going to propose, and I got to the beach early to set up where I was going to propose. I convinced Caitlin that I was going to be taking a practice MCAT exam in Fresno, which kept her from being suspicious since I was frequently taking practice exams where I couldn’t talk to her all day. Finally, Caitlin and a few of her friends: Lauren, Abby, and Elsie, arrived at the beach and ate dinner at Shake Shack, which is located directly above the beach at Crystal Cove, where I was going to propose. I found a hiding place where I was going to surprise Caitlin, and I waited for close to 30 minutes until Caitlin and her friends finished dinner and came walking down the beach. Right when Caitlin got close, I walked out from behind a fence and surprised her with flowers. She had no idea I was there! Once she saw me, she knew exactly what was about to happen. We walked for about a minute down the beach, where I had a blanket, flowers, and candles set up where I proposed to her! It was such a sweet moment, and I remember not being able to stop smiling! She said yes, which was the happiest moment of my life! We spent some time talking on the beach, and we took lots of pictures as well as celebrating with Caitlin’s friends, who helped me pull off the surprise! We went back to Caitlin’s house, where there was a small party set up with all of our family and closest friends. It was so fun getting to celebrate with everyone, and this day, June 6th, 2025, became my favorite day of my life!