I attribute our meeting to our brothers and Denmark. May of 2019, I had the privilege of going back to the UK for a friend's wedding. My brother was stationed in Germany at the time, so after the wedding, he and I arranged to explore a bit more of Europe. He suggested Denmark since neither of us had been. It was a quick trip but we still managed to see plenty of amazing things! Fast forward four months when I hoped on Hinge, a dating app a friend had recently introduced me to, and saw this guy standing in front of one of the castles my brother and I had just visited! I quickly struck up a conversation (which I might not have otherwise) to ask if it was indeed the same castle I had recently been to. It was concluded that they were different castles, but both in Denmark. He had visited the country four years prior to attend his niece's baptism since his brother was living there at the time! I am so grateful to have visited that castle and that he had that picture! I one hundred percent believe God had His hand in our meeting! We chatted only briefly online (with a week and a half break while I went on another trip to Europe, which made him think I wasn't interested...) before Blake called me up for a dinner date to Los Garcias and the rest is, as some say, history. - Tiffany

It is notable that I am incredibly lucky to be with Tiffany. She is far out of my league, and I thank Heavenly Father for bringing us together. We met on the dating app Hinge. I hated dating apps, kinda still do! I'm terrible at texting and dread the blind date aspect of them. Nonetheless, I was in a time in my life where I was ready to meet girls and wanted to pursue all avenues. After over a month of texting Tiffany over the app (that's how long it takes me to send 10 texts), I finally decided to ask for her number so that I could ask her on a date. At this point I had never had a date even result from any time using "dating apps", and expected it to go about as well as a blind date. When I called to ask her out, I was my usual awkward self and tried to keep the conversation brief. (Couldn't use all the easy conversation questions before the date! What would we talk about if I did?) If you know me well, you may know I prefer not doing a ton of talking, especially in unfamiliar situations. So, it was a surprise then that we ended up occupying the booth at Los Garcias for around 2 hours and I still had more questions and wanted to tell more stories. (Yes, that is correct, I, Blake Keyser held normal conversation with a girl, and it lasted well over 5 minutes.) Not only that, I wanted it to keep going! So, having exceeded the appropriate booth occupation time, we decided to take our "blind date" on a walk. Two miles later and I still wasn't done, so that produced the ever so awkward 30 minute car conversation, which it turns out can occur without the awkwardness. (Granted 1 data point is hardly enough to suggest a trend.) - Blake

This first date produced subsequent dates with equally engaging conversations. But an even bigger surprise was that I remembered things from our conversation. Walking through the store to grab snacks for our second date (a hike), I suddenly remembered her favorite cookies were grasshoppers… (I never remember stuff like that). Our third date was designed solely around the idea that I could find a hot chocolate that she liked almost as much as Land-O-Lakes. (All we learned was that 1 or 2 sips of over 12 hot cocos will, in fact, make you sick.) These dates would continue, and each one brought more enjoyable conversations. Due to my aversion to conversation, I prefer to listen to books during my car trips. So, when shortly after we started dating we decided to drive to Colorado, I prepared several books I thought she might enjoy. On the 10ish hour trip we didn't even start a book. We talked the whole time! Yes, I complained a little about the lost book opportunity, but the truth is I love talking to Tiffany! Even now, 14+ months later and several car trips under our belt, I have to mentally decide to put on a book rather than just talk during a long car trip. I am grateful for the many ways the Lord has blessed me and prepared me that I might be in the right place at the right time in the right state of mind to meet and grow to love Tiffany! She is truly amazing and I look forward to having eternity with her, and I know we will spend much of that time in enjoyable conversations. - Blake

Since we were planning on going to both of my sibling's and his sister's homes Christmas Day, Blake and I decided Christmas Eve would be the best time to do our gift exchange. Blake had some last minute Christmas tasks he needed to get done and I was supposed to pick him up at his house around 2 so we could go to his sister's house for Christmas Eve celebrations. But I got a call from him a little before that to say he needed more time... it was taking longer than he thought to assemble my Christmas gift. He said I probably already knew what it was, but I was clueless! I finally got the go ahead to go over there around 3:30p and was promptly told on my arrival that I had to stay in the car - I wasn't allowed inside or in the backyard. I was naturally curious as he was running around ... But we left a short while later and made it to his sister's in time. Blake had previously told her that we would slip out a little early so we could do our gift exchange, so I didn't think anything of it when everyone sat down to read the nativity but told us not to worry about sticking around and to go ahead and leave... When we got back to Blake's house, the whole backyard was lit up! He said we should do his gift first since it was obviously there! As we walked into the backyard, he had a beautiful little greenhouse decorated with Christmas lights and garland. I was not expecting that at all!! It was beautiful! We then walked over to look at it closer - walking inside, I quickly realized this was more than just a Christmas gift. He had a couple of lamps, a tree (a Red Bud - one of my favorites!), flowers (more of my favorites!), and a ring sitting on the base of the tree... He was close behind me and reached over to pick up the ring as he knelt on one knee, asking me to marry him. He whispered it at first and I answered likewise. Then he asked again louder and I responded with a resounding YES!!! - Tiffany