We got married!

Justus and I met a few days into my freshman year (his sophomore year) at Wheaton. He lived on the dorm floor adjacent to mine, and every time our paths crossed at a res life event or on the stairway leading to the 5th floor of Fischer Hall, my heart lept into my throat. There was just something about him...his sense of humor, leadership in Army ROTC, fierce loyalty to Nebraska, an easy smirk with dimples (*swoon*). He remained my crush-from-afar for a few months, but God gently faded my feelings as He guided us in separate directions. Two years later, during the fall of my junior year and Justus' senior year, our paths crossed for good. A student event on campus sparked political controversy, and we suddenly found ourselves aligned shoulder-to-shoulder working towards similar outcomes in the aftermath. After most of the drama had blown over, Justus asked to grab dinner. What I presumed would be a casual outing as friends was in fact a dinner reservation and a first date. Conversation flowed so naturally that the date stretched into the early hours of the morning. When he finally dropped me off at my apartment, my roommates tumbled out of bed and eagerly asked for details. I couldn't stop gushing about him. - S

Since I was planning our proposal 800 miles away from Sophia, I had to capitalize upon every opportunity I had with her. For the Fourth of July, I visited her family in Missouri and talked about marriage with her dad while we were out on a fishing trip together. With his blessing, I began planning for the next time I was going to be able to see her, which was Labor Day weekend. Planning the perfect engagement became my main goal for those two months. I would lay on top of my tank at night bouncing ideas off my crew mates and constantly thought of how I could possibly come up with a proposal worthy of a woman like her. After much planning, research, and reconnaissance, I came up with the plan. On Saturday, August 31st after a full day spent together sharing meatballs at IKEA and building character by putting together furniture, I asked her to be ready by 4:30 for our plans for the rest of the day. What she thought was going to be a normal date was really a night that I had planned for months and would change our lives forever. We started by going to the restaurant in Wheaton where we had our first date, and we even sat in the exact same seats. After dinner I took her out to the Churchill Woods Forest Preserve near Wheaton where we had gone on walks when we were both at Wheaton together. Prior to coming to Wheaton, I had asked Sophia's friend Rilea to hide in the park in a specific spot in order to get pictures of us. Once we reached the designated location, I slowly turned Sophia's back to the tree where Rilea was hiding. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, and she said yes!! After taking engagement photos in the park we drove back to Wheaton and rang the bell in Blanchard Hall. To finish off the night we went to Rilea's apartment where all of our close friends in the area were waiting for a surprise party that Rilea and I had organized. It was the best day ever. - J

While Justus was in Ranger School, our St. Louis venue called and let me know they had to cancel our wedding due to COVID-19. I was devastated, especially because Justus didn't have his phone so we couldn't talk it over together. I sat with the news for a few weeks and discussed different options with our families. In the days leading up to Justus' Ranger graduation in early May, I still wasn't sure how our wedding would look, but my heart was settled on what truly mattered - getting married. To borrow a little cheesiness from the movie When Harry Met Sally..."when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Reuniting after Ranger school, after so many months apart, solidified our decision to begin our marriage as soon as possible. We found a beautiful historic home on Airbnb and decided to get married in the front yard surrounded by only our families and a few close friends, who graciously went along with our spontaneity and traveled from across the country to Alabama in a matter of days. My mom bought flowers from Wal-Mart and watched a few crash courses in floral arrangement on YouTube. My friend Laurelyn did my bridal make-up. Justus' dad cooked prime rib for the wedding dinner. My sister Phoebe and our friends Trevor and Jordyn agreed to play guitar and sing at the ceremony with only a few hours to prepare. Everyone cleaned, cooked, and decorated. The selfless love and support woven through every detail of the day made it more special than anything we could have planned months in advance. Although it was disappointing to cancel a lovely celebration with so many friends and family, God redeemed it by stripping the start of our marriage down to the most beautiful basics. Somehow, we couldn't imagine a better day! - S