We're getting married!

Thomas and AK were both going on a college ministry mission trip to Belize for their spring break. They attended the first meeting for the mission trip at church and played an ice breaker game where each person had to meet someone new, learn a few facts about them, and then present that person to the group. AK and her friend decided that they were just going to turn around in their seats and meet whoever was behind them. So when the leaders said go, they turned around and there was Thomas! That was when we first met. We got distracted chatting about something else and forgot to learn facts about each other. Luckily, we have our whole lives together to do that now! He knew me as AK Je-now-ski who likes to ski and the dork from the ice-breaker activity. The next time we saw each other was in Belize a few months later. I spotted Thomas wearing a Sriracha t-shirt (which he wore everyday that week) and from that moment I knew that we'd be friends. Over the course of that week in Belize, we became buddies and bonded over being one of the few seniors on the trip. We were able to see a little of each other's hearts for service and for Jesus, and a little of each other's ability to sweat profusely. I got to witness Thomas getting baptized in the ocean, which was the most beautiful epic moment ever!

When we got back to Fort Worth after our trip to Belize, Thomas asked AK to be his plus one at an in house concert with some other friends. That was one of their first times hanging out, and it was an awesome night. While they were driving back from the concert, Thomas told AK that he thought she was a pretty cool girl and wanted to "get to know her more." She was intrigued, but thought that they should only hang out in group settings with friends for now. Well, the whole 'hanging out in group settings' didn't really happen except going to yoga classes and church, so Thomas asked her on a date and AK agreed (woooohooo). Thomas picked her up and brought a handful of sunflowers, and they went to dinner at a little thai restaurant and climbed to the top of a building downtown for an awesome view. That was their first date, and now they get to date for life!

We were headed to Denver for MLK weekend. We had been looking forward to this weekend for months, and couldn't wait to spend time skiing with our best friends. We woke up early Friday morning to drive out to Keystone. We were excited to get some fresh snow and do some powder skiing! We went straight to the mountain, geared up, grilled up (some pancakes), and had a great day of skiing! We even went night skiing! After a long day of good skiing we decided to have a slower morning the next day, and our friends wanted to show us their favorite lookout spot that was close to our airbnb. We decided to dress nicer to take some pictures together and brought our ski stuff to change into after breakfast. I just kind of went along with this thinking it sounded like a good idea, even though my dad's voice was in the back of my head, "you gotta get first chair to get the best snow!" Little did I know what was coming. We started our drive up to the lookout spot. Once we got to the spot and started walking out there, Christian and Arianna mentioned that they forgot the camera in the car so they went back to grab it. Meanwhile, Thomas and I continued our trek to a log that was in some trees and covered in snow. He laid a blanket down on the log and we sat down looking out at the view, surrounded by snow covered pine trees. At this moment I definitely knew what was going on. He pulled out his Bible and read a few verses while explaining their meaning in our relationship. He then read Ephesians 5:25, explaining how a husband's posture towards his wife is like Christ's posture towards the church, sacrificial love. That was the posture he was taking as he took a knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes! We were both sobbing and celebrating! We then rode the gondola to the top of the mountain to eat breakfast. When we reached the top and walked out of the gondola, our moms and friends were waiting to surprise me and celebrate! It was a beautiful day full of joy.