who would've thought that your girl would find her future husband on a dating app?? back in the end of November 2020, i got sick with covid. out of boredom from being quarantined, i decided to download the dating app Hinge, cause why not?? after a couple of bad dates, i was thinking that online dating maybe wasn't for me and was debating deleting it. but before i deleted it, i decided to quick go through the guys who had "liked" me. in case you don't know how Hinge works, you can either like someone back or pass on them. i was passing on pretty much all the guys until one dude's profile popped up. he had the most insane blue eyes, shared that He had a love for coffee and an adventurous spirit, talked about his love for the Lord and how important it was to him, and compared himself to a golden retriever (one of my fav dogs). that "dude" was Trent. after skimming over all his information and pictures, i kid you not, i turned to my mom and said "mom i think i just found my future husband." i slightly was kidding, but the joke was on me. i liked him back and we started talking and we haven't stopped since. this happened on wednesday, december 16th of 2020, and we officially met in person just 4 days later on sunday, december 20th.

for those of you who don't know, Trent lives in Mobridge, SD, which is 2 hours away from Bismarck. since we met through a dating app, all of our first interactions and conversations were over text. but we hit it off so well that Trent told me he was willing to drive up and meet me just a few days after we started talking. i thought that was one of the sweetest things, but also one of the craziest things (and also a little scary tbh hahaha). so we set the date for december 20, 2020. i went to church that morning with my family, came home after, and waited for him to get to my house. and ohhh my gosh, i was sooo nervous that i was sweating and shakey and pacing back and forth in my living room. after what felt like a lifetime, he pulled up in his truck and i walked out before he could even make it to the front door. i introduced myself by saying "hi, I'm Brianna, I'm a hugger.". thankfully, he was a hugger, too. we ended up spending the whole day together. it started off at Perkins for some brunch, then we went to double ditch for a very cold walk, came back to my parents house (he literally met my family on our first date- what a guy !!), went ice skating, looked at Christmas lights, and ended the evening with some Arby's quick before he hit the road. it was a day full of talking and laughter and a whole lot of fun. definitely the best first date i've been on- and i'm not just saying that cause it was with my future husband ;)

one of my very favorite places to be is in the mountains & one of my favorite things to do is go hiking. Trent and i had a trip to Utah planned in late April, and we had looked at rings around mid March. a tiny part of me wondered if he'd propose in Utah (i may have hinted that i thought a proposal on a hike would be sick lol), but i honestly had no idea. our first day in Utah was Thursday, April 29. i had all the hikes planned for that day, but Trent really wanted to do one called "Lake Blanche". i didn't understand why he was trying to change my hikes & we ended up not doing it.. turns out he just wanted to propose, oops. we went into the city that night and i kept teasing him that a ring on my finger would be so nice. little did i know he had hoped to do it that day. Friday was another day FULL of hiking. we started out the morning with a steep hike called Heughs Canyon. It led up to this absolutely beautiful overlook of Utah. there was a waterfall up there, but to get to it you had to go down steep, sliding rocks. Trent was trying to get me to come with him to get a closer view, but i didn't have the best shoes, so i told him to just go without me. guess why he wanted me to come to the waterfall? yeah, he wanted to put a ring on my finger, and yet again, i made him change his plans. we did one more hike Friday afternoon and i was pooped. we had a third harder, 3 mile hike planned for that night that Trent had found. it was great for watching sunsets- i almost made poor Trent change his plans again because i wanted to find an easier hike. luckily, i last minute decided to just stick with our OG hike. once we got up there, Trent took us to a secluded spot with an amazing view of the sunset. we sat talking and watching the sun slowly go down behind the mountains for a bit. it was breathtaking. the next thing i knew, he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand asking me to be his wife, mountains and sun setting behind us. such an unforgettable moment.