You may know the story of how we both went on the same tubing trip but somehow didn't meet, or how we met a few weeks later at Eucharistic Minister training, or the 11 days it took me to text her after she sent me her number on GroupMe, or the Taylor Swift concert I almost took her to but didn't, or how I sat in "her spot" at the freshman dorm dining hall, or the double function assumption that led to me asking her out on a city bus, or how she responded "sure" -- but the story of us had barely started! There are obviously too many stories to share (coming up on 5 years of knowing Annie!), so I am going to leave you with 1 that I think truly brought us to this day. And that is the story of the 2nd St. Therese of Lisieux Novena (maybe Annie can tell the story of the 1st, 3rd, or 4th). Spring break rolled around our Sophomore year, and I had passed up the opportunity to go to Hawaii with Annie to go on a pilgrimage to Rome- and thank goodness I did. I was desperately trying to finish "I Believe in Love" because we were coming up on the last day of the novena. It was also my birthday! Which, is one of the reasons we were praying it. Annie had planted little gifts and notes in my luggage and handed them out to other people on the trip in order to surprise me throughout the day. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I could have received! As I finished the last prayer of the 9 days, when we were over 8,000 miles away, I somehow felt closer to Annie than I ever had. I had a deep longing to be with her and to... well... m a r r y her. We give credit to St. Therese for this (and for so much more). Her prayers helped us to know Christ's love and how to give that love to another person!

Andrew and I met September 18th, 2016 (yeah, we're going all in here). I was sitting in the University Catholic Center, waiting for Eucharistic Ministry training to begin, when the girls around me started whispering & giggling that Andrew had just walked in. I turned around to see who it was, and that was the first time I ever saw MY FUTURE HUSBAND. Kinda wild!!! During training we got paired together to practice, and Andrew *swears* he wanted to ask me out after. The rest of the semester was filled with seeing him in the dorm (and making excuses to talk to him), many groupme messages back and forth, and T/TH breakfasts at JCL. I finally asked him to my sorority formal, and he said "only if you come with me to mine". He asked me out on the city bus after dabbing all night to "closer", assuring me he does NOT love me...but does like me (another good story I don't have enough characters to share), and I said "sure". We spent the rest of college together running around ATX, traveling to over 10 different cities, and meeting each other for mass every day. Our dating years were full of Andrew writing me letters every single day when we were apart, singing me songs for every special occasion from my playlist "songs my future husband will sing to me", and showing me what it means to will the good of the other. I knew I wanted to marry Andrew, oddly enough, when my dad passed away. Andrew dropped everything to be by my side, patiently led me to Jesus, and chose me through it all. I have a distinct memory of realizing that I never wanted to face whatever life would bring without Andrew by my side. After discerning together that God was calling us into this Vocation (one that involves yet *another* miracle from our girl St. Therese), Andrew showed his great love & desire to sacrifice for me, as Jesus did for the Church, when we put off engagement for 1.5 years so I could go on mission! And, if you can believe it, that's the short version of what led me to becoming #wyfeofpye

For anyone that knows us, we can all say this was a long time coming. Out of pure excitement and desire to spend my life with Annie, I asked Annie's dad for her hand before he passed away and bought the ring the following summer, eagerly awaiting the day I could ask. But, since it was such a long time coming, I at least wanted the moment to be a surprise. The weekend I was planning to propose, I went up to Oklahoma to visit Annie, and she had the whoooole weekend planned out. It's one of her favorite things to make an hour-by-hour itinerary and pack in as much as possible. Unlucky for me, we spent the morning at the OKC bombing memorial. Not exactly the “we are getting married” type of excitement I would’ve hoped for. BUT, it just showed she definitely had no idea! And the rest of the day went according to plan - shout-out to Clarisa for keeping her cool at lunch! Annie planned for us to go to the botanical gardens in the afternoon, which I thought would be a perfect spot to pop out a ring. When Annie and I walked up, she totally saw the photographer and said “I don’t think we should go over there…I think we're walking in on something” But of course, that something was for us! When Annie noticed my bible on the table, she just kept saying "nooo way, no waaay!" When I got down on one knee, Annie was so excited she reached down and hugged me before I could even ask. After, I got to walk Annie through my prayer leading up to asking her to marry me. I also got to show her a video I had been working on -- when I realized I had the ring and couldn't propose until the end of her first year on mission, I began taking videos every day of the ring, and finally got to show Annie how long I've been dreaming of this moment! After driving to a nearby church to pray, and eating dinner downtown, we went back to Stillwater where all our friends had driven all the way to the middle of Oklahoma to surprise her! I said, "Cheers to the future Pye's" and, in her own words, "I flipped"

O Lord Jesus, you lived in the home of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth. There you grew in age, wisdom and grace as you prepared to fulfill your mission as our Redeemer. We entrust our family to you. O Blessed Mary, you are the Mother of our Savior. At Nazareth you cared for Jesus and nurtured him in the peace and joy of your home. We entrust our family to you. O Saint Joseph, you provided a secure and loving home for Jesus and Mary, and gave us a model of fatherhood while showing us the dignity of work. We entrust our family to you. Holy Family, we consecrate ourselves and our family to you. May we be completely united in a love that is lasting, faithful and open to the gift of new life. Help us to grow in virtue, to forgive one another from our hearts, and to live in peace all our days. Keep us strong in faith, persevering in prayer, diligent in our work, and generous toward those in need. May our home, O Holy Family, truly become a domestic church where we reflect your example in our daily life. Amen. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!