Kashi and I met the summer of 2015, the day I went to Belmont University for freshmen orientation. I was so overwhelmed and nervous, and I didn't know anyone except my roommate-to-be, coincidentally also named Sam. We hung out the whole day, and eventually went to the cafeteria for dinner. Upon getting there, I ran into an old friend from middle school. He invited us to sit with him and some of his friends, so we did. It was a table with a bunch of guys, and one of them was a guy named Kashi! Kashi and I didn't talk that much at dinner, but as the evening went on, we talked a lot and became good friends instantaneously. Never had I met someone who was so kind, friendly, or funny! I knew right away that Kashi was someone really special...little did I know I had just met my future husband! Some people might think us meeting at orientation was coincidence, but when I think back on that day I can only see God's hand on our lives. With me being a Biology major, and Kashi being a Commercial Voice major, we never would have met if we hadn't met at orientation. What's even funnier is that Kashi accidentally went to orientation a day early! If he had gone to the correct session, we definitely never would have met. I'm so thankful for his little "mess-up" because it brought us together and began what'll be a lifetime of companionship.
On September 20, 2015, Kashi and I started dating. That was the start of the most wonderful three years of our lives. The first year or so of dating was us seeing each other almost every day. We were both at Belmont studying what we loved. We made good friends that we would often study with, get dinner at the caf with, or have Bible study with. From mid-2016 and on, Kashi and I began doing the long-distance thing. I stayed at Belmont to continue studying Biology while Kashi went to Highlands College in Birmingham, AL, to begin full-time ministry as a worship leader. Then he went to Los Angeles, CA, for an internship at Saddleback Church, and then he went back to Fishers, IN, to work. It was a lot! Difficult at times, but this is probably the time period where we grew the most.
On September 21, 2018, Kashi drove down to Nashville to spend our three year anniversary together. On his drive here, he called and asked me to get dressed up because we had dinner reservations at a ~surprise restaurant~. Four o'clock came around, and Kashi got here. He said we had an hour until dinnertime and that to kill time he wanted to take me to a practice room to play a song he had written for me a few months ago. So we went to the practice rooms....on the way there, we passed the Bell Tower (an iconic point on Belmont's campus) and Kashi said, "Oh, let's go in there!" To which I stubbornly said, "No," because it was really hot outside that day and the Bell Tower is normally always locked. But we tried the doors, which were unlocked, and went in anyway. There was a keyboard in the corner, so I sat in front of the keyboard and Kashi played me the most beautiful song! When he was done, he told me to go to the back table and see the cover of the Bible on the table. I turned around, went to the Bible, and the cover said "The Wallace Family." I turned back around to face Kashi, and there he was on one knee. He pulled out the most stunning ring and asked me to be his wife!!! After he proposed, we went to the Flipside (one of our favorite Nashville restaurants) and got dinner with some of our closest friends. It was a day I'll never ever forget.