After briefly catching glimpses of each other at church, we both got to talking casually on Instagram which moved from every couple of days, to talking every day. We both figured out quickly we had endless overlapping interests, and things immediately clicked for us. We went on our first date walking out in the snow with coffee in hand, and had an amazing time. We talked about going on another date maybe the following week, but as soon as we were apart decided we had to get together the next day, and the day after that. Weeks of dating felt like months of experience, and we both knew we had fallen in love with each other and there was no going back.

Months after our first date, we returned to the location of our first date in downtown Bothell. Unknown to Jess that this was more than a walk, (…but sort of known considering we had already begun wedding planning…). we both got coffee, and took the same route like we did before on our first date. Walking under the umbrella together as it had begun to rain, I did a poor job of not acting suspicious, but by the time Jess had figured it out, we had stopped on the bridge where I intended to ask her. I knelt down and asked Jess to marry me.