Although we had been in the same campus ministry and known of each other for several months, our first memory of interacting is during an OU-OSU football watch party at a friend's home in the fall of Sarah's freshman year. After sitting next to each other during the game, Russell offered to drive Sarah back to the dorms and then spent the following six months trying to work up the nerve to ask her out.

Over spring break in 2018, we both traveled with our campus ministry to Colorado and played in the worship band during a week-long retreat, where we ended up hanging out more than usual and getting to know one another over card games and band practices. The Saturday after, Russell's roommate goaded him into finally asking Sarah out, and our first date was a week later at a Vietnamese restaurant in Norman. By the end of the night, it was clear there would be a second date.

We wanted to do something special on the week of our two`birthdays and our one and a half year anniversary, so when Russell suggested going to the lake at sunset, Sarah didn't suspect anything. A walk down the dam, a windy crossword, and one unwrapped birthday present later, she unwrapped Russell's gift: a 3D-printed, copper-sided, laser-etched box with special drawings on each side that held two envelopes. The first was a letter, and while Sarah opened the second (a hand-drawn picture of a bride and groom), Russell got down on one knee.

After getting married, we hope to continue pursuing our careers and looking for more adventures on the way - we hope to hike in the Andes, parasail in the Alps, and backpack in the Rockies. We're excited for all the fun of marriage, but we also know that marriage is hard work. In fact, we believe that without the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ bringing restoration to our relationships with God and with other people, we would have no hope of building a successful and lasting marriage. With Christ, we're eager for the joys and challenges of learning to love each other well. (Ask us about this at our wedding!)