We met at church. I (Rachel) worked as the outreach coordinator at the time and Chris volunteered everywhere, but most noticeably, in the parking lot wearing bright orange hunting bibs. (….how could I not notice him…?) and once you saw past those, there was a cute face and kind eyes. After seeing him consistently for a couple of weeks and knowing he had gone on a missions trip with my boss to Haiti, I used my job as an excuse to talk to him. It went something like this… “Hi, wanna go to Iraq?I think you should think about it.” “……….” “The trip to Iraq, didn’t you go to Haiti with Joel? You should think about going on the next trip to Iraq.” “Yeah, I did go to Haiti, I’ll talk to him about it thanks!” Welp….. THREE WEEKS LATER I’m walking in on a very cold, icy morning when I almost slipped in the parking lot right next to him. Some one asked if I was ok and I responded, “well, if I wouldn’t be an idiot and walk on the already salted sidewalk….” That’s when I noticed him smiling at my expense. Chris then took time to salt where I had almost biffed it and then came in after me. He asked me out for coffee, he wanted to talk about why I was going to Iraq. Again, me being me, I never mentioned that I was working for our missions pastor, that I was NOT going on the Iraq trip, or even my name. 😬🙄 But once that was out of the way, and I properly introduced myself, I happily agreed to go get coffee with him the following week.

Nights of darts in the garage 🎯 Listening to punk music on late night pizza runs 🍕 Bonfires🔥and 🍻 Pool games at the bar 🎱 Kayaking and fishing 🛶🐟🎣 Hiking🥾🏞️ Red, White and Boom🍻🎇🏎️ HOTDOGS🌭🍻 Star gazing, constellation hunting🌌 Confusing texts messages 💬📱 Night canoeing trip that ended with a kiss🌙🛶👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

After an amazing summer of friendship and bonding we decided to give dating another shot. In my mind (Chris), I thought man I really had to do it right this time, show her how I really feel. So I picked her up from her house, by ringing the doorbell and presenting her a bouquet of flowers. I opened the doors (when she let me...), held her hand, took her for ice cream and a walk downtown after dinner. I set the bar high for myself, for the future, and did my best to show her the kind of man that she deserves and I can be. We won't mention how she got the most LAME thing on the menu.... but she was great company!

If you can withstand my farts you can withstand my love!

About 4 months into the relationship I swear I was going to die... On a week night I caught a nasty cold, no big deal I went to bed early and was anticipating a normal morning. When I woke I felt nothing like normal. Rachel and I chatted a bit that morning but I was in rough shape. I ended up on the couch going in and out of sleep, losing my mind, extremely dehydrated, and sweating profusely. I was so out of it I could barely read my phone, but I managed to answer "please" to an offer to come over. Rachel showed up like she was going to war, cold medicine, vitamin waters, soup, crackers, ect. The verdict was a 102 degree fever that I clearly could not handle. She managed to have me pop some pills, drink some water, shower, eat some soup, and get back into bed. I woke up several hours later with her on my couch with our dogs watching t.v.... zero sound, just subtitles... not making an ounce of noise so I could sleep....

I had made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t be one of “those girls” who gets all upset and angry at the guy the day he’s going to propose. In no way, shape, or form did I want to ruin that occasion. But the issue is who knows when that day is coming. After he spent a week in Haiti we had planned on hiking Saturday together. After a difficult week I couldn’t pass on an open shift at work. That led to an emotional discussion about how we could only spend a few hours together Saturday. He ended up catching a cold, I came over that morning made a massive breakfast and went on my way to work. We rescheduled for after church Sunday. He watched Bear Saturday night, all I needed to do was change my clothes and grab my boots, and I was off to his house. We baked a Jacks Pizza and hit the road. We jammed out to pop punk the whole way to a trail we have been to before; we hung a hammock and watched the sunset over Lake Michigan one night there. There is a large sand dune 20 yards from the shore, 50 feet up... BEAUTIFUL We got to an overlook of the lake and we stopped. Chris always does this thing at random times, it’s as if he remembers who I am and says, “MAN, I love you!” Then he pulls me in for a hug or kisses my head. But this time the hug lasted a little long and he didn’t punctuate it quite the same way. He started saying really sweet things and what he thinks about me. Just when I started to really lean into his chest, he pulls away from me and drops to his knee incredibly smooth - after a moment of digging his pocket he pulls out a box. Immediately I took a step back and said "Me?" *Looking around in awe* "Yeah You". I never thought I’d be one of those girls who felt so many emotions all at once, that it would result in a mix of laugh crying and an irrational hand wave….but that’s me. That’s how it happened. After I snapped back into the moment, I just remember getting close enough to him to grab his face and kiss him. Obviously, I said yes.

Some things are just better left unspoken.