Connor and I met online but quickly found out we both went to the same church and had seen each other before we ever officially met. We realized later that I had actually watched his baptism months before we met, and he remembers seeing me after service a couple of times. Our first date was on July 14th, 2024 and was going to service together on Sunday morning and then getting brunch afterwards and walking around the art fair in downtown Madison. We spent our time talking about our lives and our goals and what we envision for our futures and found out how aligned we were in so many ways. Then he taught me how to drive manual in the church parking lot later that afternoon (which taught me early on that he was veryyy patient as he watched me struggle to learn and probably do terrible things to his transmission). We both knew after our first date that it was special and that we wanted to keep seeing each other, and the rest was history. We saw each other as often as we could and started meeting family and friends through the coming weeks and months. The proposal: As we approached a year of dating, we had been talking about when we wanted to get engaged and knew that we wanted to get married in the near future. During a weekend trip north of Green Bay for Connor's birthday, Connor set his plan in motion. We were staying in a cozy cabin right on Lake Michigan and had a beautiful spot with a table and chairs right on the water. Connor made us a steak dinner, played music, and lit a candle and set a peaceful and romantic scene as the sun was setting over the water. As we prayed before dinner, I opened my eyes from the prayer and Connor was on one knee with the ring! It was a special and private moment for us as we began the next chapter of our lives and we couldn't have asked for a better backdrop as we enjoyed sitting by the water and soaking up being newly engaged!