We met the spring semester of my (Sarah’s) freshman year. We first noticed each other and started talking in our Church Ministry class (thanks Dr.Gooz 😉). Ironically when Casey first approached me testing to see if I was interested or would take the bait, I apparently gave a quick and cold response; little did he know I was just trying to rush to my next class. Hence why persistence is key and thankfully Casey likes a challenge. Casey would continue to initiate conversations, and I was more receptive this time since I wasn't in a rush, so we started to hang out and grab meals outside of class. Other times, he would walk with me to wherever I would need to go next. This happened for a while, but it all culminated on the week of my birthday. Casey asked if I had plans, and I did. My parents were in town to celebrate with me. However, due to my obliviousness, I didn’t know his intentions behind that question were to ask me out. The next week after that was a rush of busy days, allergies, and bad timing, so eventually on that Friday (the last possible day he was going to try to ask me out) and as we started our usual ‘walk’, I started to finally get the hint that he was interested. Spoiler, I was right; and he ended up asking me out right as we reached my classroom door. He said, “Let me get your number, so I can take you on a date”. *Men, take notes. Use the word date. Clarity and intentionality are your two best friends* Either way, my response was “Oh snap!!” followed by a yes which is something my family makes fun of me for to this day 😂 but honestly the rest is history.

Casey loves a good ol shock factor, so it was no surprise that the proposal itself would be unexpected for me. We had talked about it for a awhile, but after bit, I (Sarah) was admittedly getting impatient 😅. A week prior to him proposing, I asked if he was willing to give me a two-month window of when our it could take place. His response was that it would happen within two months. However, the next day he decides to change his answer to “roughly two months” solely just to throw me off. Trickster. When I heard that, I thought to myself does that mean it’s closer to 2-3 months instead of 1-2 months?? Either way, I decided to not sweat it, be patient and put it out of my mind until it got closer to time. Leading up to the day, I had our conversation in the back of my mind so when I met up with him, I completely thought it was a regular date night. Plus, it was at a place we had been talking about going to for awhile, so I had no reason to suspect otherwise. He walked me down to the terrace area, which we would pass on our way to the restaurant, and pointed out its beauty, pretending as if we had never seen it before. We definitely had been there before, so in my true fashion, I’m pointing out all the things we had seen before while he acts oblivious and waits for me to finish talking. Then, he gets my attention and says, “Sarah. This past year has been the best year of my life, and I hope to spend the rest of it with you. Will you marry me?”. Of course I go into shock but answer “YES! Of course!!” and jump attack him and now here we are 😌 So thankful for the love of my life and his wonderful sweet family. I truly couldn’t ask for anything better. I am counting down the days until we get married, thank you God! 🙏💗