Well - as they say, there's two sides to every story. We were "friends" for a while, although we definitely had two different definitions of friends. (Also - buckle up long haul) We were co-workers that had nothing but hallway conversations for a while. I, Solomon, started crushing on Rachel about six months before I asked her out, but just was waiting for the right season. I asked her out to coffee in a hallway at the church. She was leaving so I ran up and blurted out, "Hey, you're really beautiful and I think you're amazing so I would like to take out for coffee." She kindly agreed but had reservations to say the least. We went out for coffee and talked for 2 plus hours. It was awesome. However, I knew that she was going to friend-zone me and just after 2 hours of pure joy came the "hey, so I just wanted to communicate where I'm at." Every man's worst nightmare. She finished her well-prepared and well-meaning speech. "You're one of my good guy friends" was the main phrase that she said. I listened, thanked her for her honesty and for her being upfront about where she was at. Then, like any true gentleman, immediately asked her out again while still at the table. She said she would think about it and then texted me 2 days later with another clear "no". I decided in my heart that I really liked her and thought the world about this girl. We had been around each other only a handful of times and had one date over coffee but I wanted to pursue her. I spent time thinking, praying, and simply decided that if I pursued her for a year and nothing came of it-- it would be worth it. So that's what I did. I was gentle and intentional. I showed up with coffee, brought her random things and tea when she got sick, and volunteered to do her landscaping. Not even three months later, and to my complete surprise. Rachel started coming around and being more friendly. It seemed to me that her heart started to open up to the idea of giving us a shot and I was drooling at the idea of it. While all this was going on in Sol's brain, I (Rachel), was properly panicking. I had definitely friend-zoned him for a few reasons but one being he was my one and only guy friend. When he still asked me on a date, I was shocked to say the least and asked the Lord what I should say. I heard a "no", so I said "no" but decided that since we said we're still going to be friends, I was going to actually be a friend and not run away like I usually would. In this two months of me not running away and Sol being what I like to call "intentional but not pushy", I had about 5 people - only 2 of whom knew that we'd been on a date - come up to me and say, "Hey - what about Sol?" Each time, I went back to the Lord to check in and make sure it was still a "no" and it was. But after a while, I started asking the Lord about him without anyone else prompting, and at that point started to question why I was asking so much. Once I realized this, I immediately felt the Lord say "Yeah, maybe we should look into this." *Cue more panicking* I'd spent many months in solid "no" land and in a moment, it opened up to a maybe. After some conversations with some of the best friends and leaders (thanks Ruth & Steve), I decided to communicate that I might be open to going on a date. So on the volunteer landscaping afternoon while we were weeding in my backyard, I clumsily said something along the lines of - "Hey, this is maybe a funny time to bring this up. You may have noticed I've been a little more friendly lately. I'm not sure where you are, I'm also not totally sure where I am - but I'd be open to going on a date." The debate still stands about how much time passed after this moment (between 15 seconds - 1 minute), and Sol said he'd love to take me on a date. Fast forward through three of the best dates I've ever had, and I realized I really liked this guy. We've been going on dates for 8 months now and the rest is history :) We're so excited to get married in June.

We had been talking about marriage/engagement for a while, but I (Rachel) had no idea what was coming for me. On a Friday morning when Sol was supposed to pick me up for 8am CrossFit, two of my best friends showed up to my door instead. I immediately knew that it was the day! We went to breakfast at the coffee shop Sol & I had our first coffee date, and he'd set up polaroids and a note in the same booth we'd originally sat in. The note led to basically a little scavenger hunt in Napa 😱 with several meaningful stops pointing back to dates or moments in our relationship. The day ended at a beautiful vineyard and winery where, after having a moment to myself with the Lord, I met Sol at the top of some very beautiful stairs. He gave me flowers, held me for a long time, told me what he loved about me and then asked me to be his wife 😍 Right after I said "yes", several of our close friends and family came out of the winery to congratulate us! We ended the day with dinner with everyone and calling our parents. It was truly such a special and memorable day!