We are "lacing" the knot!

Really though, long-distance relationships are more normal now. They're a thing. Sara had only one serious relationship in her life, but that ended in 2011. Born and raised in southern California, she decided that after attending Miami University in Oxford she wanted to move back to Ohio and make a new living there. Jared, who had lived in the same small town in western Ohio his whole life, was serious about finding a woman to marry for the past few years but wasn't exactly the most social guy around. So, he chose to take the less traditional route to finding a mate and tried online dating. Jared and Sara met on a free Christian dating site in February 2019. They first spoke through online messages, but gradually moved on to texting, talking on the phone, then finally talking on Facebook video chat. After almost three months, they met in person on Easter weekend of 2019. The more they got to know each other, the more they agreed that God had brought them together and had led them to build a relationship on a foundation of love in Jesus Christ, whom they each live to serve with all their heart.

We planned a trip for me (Sara) to visit Troy at the end of February so that I could see Jared's band play a live show for the first time since we had been dating. I suspected (more like really hoped) that Jared would propose on this visit because we were talking more and more about getting married. "If you want to get married soon, then you better do it soon!" I remember saying. Little did I know that Jared had actually been carrying around my engagement ring for a couple months, waiting for the right moment! We planned to go to Woodland cemetery in Dayton because I thought it would be a nice place to walk around, and you know what? It was. It was covered in snow and it looked so lovely. When we were about to walk back to the car, Jared stopped me and said he wanted to ask me something. I saw him pull out the ring box and I screamed. He got down on one knee and, you know, proposed. Initially there was no one around - it seemed like we were the only people in the cemetery but thankfully, we found someone walking his dog and he kindly took our picture after the wonderful moment. You can see some of those pictures in the "photos" page on our website :)