Two years ago, I was introduced to a beautiful blue-eyed girl who just so happened to share my first name. It's a good thing too.. I've always had a hard time remembering names! Oddly enough our mutual friend who introduced us was also named Sam, and so our very first encounter started off with a joke that everyone is all too familiar with by now... "Hi I'm Sam" and "Hi, I'm also Sam". (ha. ha.) Believe it or not, I still enjoy the fact that we share a name! Anyways... to make a long story short, she instantly fell in love with me and the rest is history (kinda). The truth is: Due to my amazing social skills, I instantly clammed up and couldn't figure out how to continue a conversation with this adorable, intelligent, graceful and wise woman standing in front of me. So naturally, I spent the next year admiring her from a distance in between our awkward interactions every now and then. Thankfully Sam is a go-getter and decided to slide into my DM's with an amazing pickup line. I was hooked, and from there we started talking about our lives, hobbies, and passions. She was (and still is) so much fun to talk to. I finally got the nerve to ask her over for a "SAM-wich" (I know, I'm still laughing about that one), and we talked until 2am! After we had parted ways, I realized I was in BIG trouble with this one. I couldn't stop thinking about her! To spare you all from the details, I'm going to skip a whole year ahead. It was tough at times, but through it all I saw that Sam was the most amazing, Jesus-filled, beautiful soul that I had ever encountered. I realized quickly that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with! And so, I acquired a ring, travelled to Michigan to ask her father for his blessing, and asked Sam to be my bride at the same place we talked until 2am one year earlier. So now we will see if the world can truly handle two Sam Lanes!

As Sam said above, we met a little over two years ago. Our first encounter was awkard. Very awkward. And come to think of it, most of our interactions thereafter weren’t any less awkward. We remained friends as time passed, but it was never a close friendship. One day, Sam posted a chapter title to a book on his Instagram story: “Do You Believe in Fairies?”. I replied to his post, and it wasnt long before I fell in love with this handsome man (who loves Peter Pan, by the way). We instantly clicked. We spent long nights talking about our favorite movies and books, shared stories about our families and upbringing, and laughed over Sam’s (undoubtedly the best) dad jokes. Sam was the most gracious and compassionate person I’d ever had the pleasure of being around. I saw the way he loved me and the people around him. His energy was life-giving, and it wasn’t long before we became best friends. A little over a year into our relationship, Sam took me back to the park bench where we spent our first time getting to know each other. Ironically, we hadn’t been back to that spot since! I couldn’t help but cry with excitement as Sam got down on one knee and asked to spend forever with me! It was the best YES I have ever said.