Cody & Sarah met on December 19th, 2017 at a Christmas party for their church's (Univerity Reformed Church) young adult group. Cody (intentionally) sat next to Sarah after the group games and they spent the rest of the evening talking . . . for hours. Sarah was immediately struck by how easily they talked, his smile and laughter, and His evident heart for the Lord. Cody likewise was attracted to Sarah's love for the Lord and her ability to talk easily and laugh at his jokes. Cody began actively pursuing Sarah and the frequency and depths of their conversations grew, quickly becoming best friends. On March 3rd, 2018, Cody and Sarah went on a long walk and Cody voiced his desire and intent for their relationship to move forward. Cody says he knew within the first month that Sarah was the woman he wanted to marry, and Sarah herself was surprised with how fast she fell in love with him. It didn't take very long before they both realized that they had found their life-partner.

Cody brought her to their favorite hammocking park, where he had prepared this wonderful picnic dinner for them both and they hammocked and then went to a local coffee shop to warm up. Cody was delaying going back to his house because he was trying to wait until it got darker outside, so he took a "scenic route" home (including driving past his house at one point to circle back again) and finally pulled into his driveway. He led her into his backyard where the magnolia tree and yard were decorated in white Christmas lights, color-changing lanterns, candles, flowers, and a small table set up with two chairs, flowers, champagne, and blankets. It was breathtaking. He got down on one knee, and then both knees, and asked her to marry him. She immediately responded with "Yes, of course! ... It's about time!" It wasn't long before she realized that their best friends (who had helped Cody tremendously getting everything ready) were hiding nearby, two of them hiding behind his garage videotaping the proposal and the other on his roof playing live music! They all came out and everyone hugged and celebrated together. It also wasn't long before they realized that in all the excitement, Cody had never put the ring on Sarah's finger, which was quickly remedied!