We met at a Washington State University Cougar Soccer game in the Fall of our freshman year at WSU (Go Cougs!). At the time, I was an assistant coach for Pullman Christian School's Soccer team, which Jamie had previously played for in high school. The head coach of the soccer team had mentioned Jamie to me and how he would be helping out with practice from time to time. One Saturday afternoon some friends and I planned on going to the Women's Soccer game. Little did I know, I would be meeting my future husband on those very bleachers. We were introduced to each other by a mutual friend and so began a friendship that would be the start of so much more.

We were friends for a while before even considering dating. But around January of 2015, there began an adventure between us. But despite feelings, we both felt a strong calling on our lives to draw closer to our relationship with Christ than to each other. Throughout this time, Jamie was my best friend. We encouraged each other in our walk with the Lord but also recognized the incredible friendship that God had blessed us with. It wasn't hard to put together that dating was a desire of ours, but we were willing to wait for God to open that door when He saw best fit. We were both planning on going to Haiti for a mission trip in March of 2016, so figured maybe after the mission trip God would open that door so that we could remain completely focused on serving in Haiti, but as always, God had different plans for us. I had gone home for Winter Break and was heading back to Pullman from Belgrade, Montana. After running into a few car problems, I finally got on the road. Jamie was patiently awaiting my arrival from Montana as the sun sank over the Palouse. When I finally arrived at my dorm room, Jamie met me and told me to dress fancy and be ready for an adventure. We proceeded to several places around Pullman that were special to us in our friendship. Where we finally ended up at Sunnyside Park. After walking around a bit and being kids at heart on the playground, Jamie handed me a letter he had written me. This letter stated how grateful he was for our friendship and all the wonderful memories we had together. And then he handed me another letter. This letter had different intentions in mind than just friendship. At the end of the letter he asked if he could pursue me. I sat and soaked in the moment before answering, wondering what great adventure awaited us. Little did I know, Jamie was nervously awaiting my response in the silence that was between us. I finally noticed his anxiousness and responded with a yes. And so the adventure began.

The biggest testimony of our relationship has been perseverance. Our long distance relationship began with Jamie going to nursing school up in Spokane, WA while I finished up my degree in Pullman, WA and then led to being separated by 2,889 miles while I was in Vero Beach, FL doing a semester long internship. This season of our lives was a great test of our relationship. We decided to pursue what God was calling us to, even if it meant putting many, many miles between us. We both give God the credit for the strength and grace to persevere through the several months of only letters, Facetime, and phone calls, all of which we were very blessed to have had during this season. After my internship was over, I began the road trip home anticipating seeing Jamie. Long story short, he surprised me in Montana. By now we knew that marriage was not a question of if, but when we would get married, and the answer to that question would be answered soon. Fast forward to November of 2017, we planned Thanksgiving with my family at Big Creek Cabin. Jamie and I were very excited for this trip and had been planning for it since May. On Thanksgiving Day we decided to go on a hike. Jamie wanted to hike the ridge that was across the creek, but we could not seem to find a way across the creek without the risk of falling in the icy cold water. So we settled for a hike up the trail head. Jamie decided we would document this hike with the GoPro to show the absolute beauty of Montana. After a long hike, we made it to a clearing at the top of the mountain where we could see the snow dusted mountain ranges all around us. Jamie placed the GoPro in the snow and then told me to face away. After a few seconds of waiting for what was next, (and I hoped I knew what was about to happen) Jamie got down on one knee, asked me to turn around and then asked me to marry him. It was perfect in every way from the beauty of my home state, to the man down on one knee who I now get to spend forever with.