I'm an Air Force brat, went to Virginia Tech to study construction engineering, and have been in the Air Force since 2017. I first met Tessa in November of 2020 at work, but we didn't talk until our friend Erica introduced us in March of 2021. When she said, "oh you're really religious? Tessa is too" I was interested. A couple of hangouts and a month later, I was asking Tessa if she was interested in dating. She said, "no," but we stayed friends over the spring and summer. Tessa was such a good friend. She welcomed me into the Catholic Church, went hiking with me a few times, and went to adoration and Mass every week with me. I still don't know how it happened but eventually Tessa saw my charm and heart for God as part of her vocation. On October 10th, while we were hammocking and reading together in beautiful downtown Minot, she asked, "Can we talk about dating again?" At first I thought she was going to tell me off, but she was actually asking me out! Mind you, this was just 6 weeks before I left for a yearlong assignment to Turkey. Somehow it all worked out, and by April 2022 we were looking at rings. Coming back from Turkey with only a week on leave forced me to make some tough decisions like proposing in front of a closed train station in Fargo, but Tessa still said yes despite the dour ambiance. Our long distance relationship has been great for us. It sucks to be able to talk only at 5 AM or on the weekends, but we've grown so much through just talking. We're both super excited to finally get to live in the same city again, let alone in the same house once we're married. BTW, did I tell you that Tessa is the prettiest, smartest, kindest, most God-loving woman I've ever met?

I'm sure we've all heard the expression, "you make plans and God laughs," but sometimes I feel like it should be my motto. During my time at MIT, I fell in love with the Catholic faith that I had been raised on. I began pursuing religious life (i.e. I wanted to become a nun), and I felt fairly sure that this was the path for me. I planned to serve my four years in the Air Force and then separate in order to join a religious order. Obviously, that didn't pan out. Through the last few years, God has been warming me up to the idea that He has other plans for my life. Enter Billy. I wasn't ready to date him when we first met, but after many months of friendship, near-death hiking experiences, Masses and holy hours together, and other adventures in Minot, I realized that I really enjoyed spending time with him and wanted to keep doing it. My timing was not great, so I came to this realization right before he was about to leave for a one-year assignment in Turkey. I knew this wasn't the ideal way to start a relationship, but I figured if the relationship worked out it'd be great, and if it didn’t, we would both be better people on the other side of it. Thankfully, we're here now! Billy was never part of my plan, but he's definitely the best plot twist so far, and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for us. His plans are always better than ours.

Sacraments are rites or objects that humans can use to impart God's grace. God will use our wedding within the Church to impart His grace to our marriage, the Catholic Church, all Christians, and everyone on earth. We believe that "the Matrimonial covenant is a partnership of the whole life and is ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring." We hope that you leave our wedding remembering that God is good, loving, just, and glorious.

We believe that God has called each of us to a purpose in life, and that our mutual purpose is matrimony. It may seem early for us to get married only a year and a half after we started dating, but we are certain that we will love and serve God in our marriage and help each other along the path toward Heaven. Marriage is not a capstone of our dating lives, but the beginning of our journey together toward holiness.