Zack and I met a little unconventionally (a dating app). Once we started messaging I knew he was something special. He was intentional in his conversation and I could tell he was genuine in all he said. Having an intellectual connection is very important to me. I wanted to be with someone that I could talk to for hours about all the random thoughts running around in my head. He asked me out on a date and this amazing man planned the WHOLE THING (and in my hometown)!! I am a planner so to have him take the lead and make me feel valued in the time spent preparing something spoke to my heart! We went to Grain Station in McMinnville and he was there before me and I am always early (points to Zack). We talked for hours and it felt like with each thing he said, he checked another mental box of my dream guy. That date was definitely a "wow God" moment. On our third date I walked out to his car with him and he stopped me, looked me in the eyes and told me that he wanted to keep seeing me. WHOA! I tend to overthink things and uncertainty can plague my mind. He gave me security and assurance about his feelings without me having to even voice that I needed that. His timeline fit mine, he naturally put me at ease. A couple dates later we were all in. With Zack leaving for a 3 month training in South Carolina for the Coast Guard, it might have seemed crazy to commit to long distance after knowing someone for 3 weeks. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. The amount of focused conversation we were able to have, gave us the opportunity to get to know each other in a much deeper way than if we had been a 50 minute drive away from each other. We did bible studies together, asked real thought-provoking questions, and truly became best friends. God definitely had a plan when he brought us together. I am forever thankful for trusting the unknown, it turned out better than I ever could have dreamed!

We got engaged on the 22nd of August. Once again in our relationship things fell into place as if it was meant to be, and once again we were fitting things into a tight schedule. I had been on two weeks active duty coast guard orders in Washington State from the 31st of July to the 14th of August, only to go back out of town for work on the 16th and come back on the 19th. Natalie and I went back to our FaceTime dates during this time and threw around the idea of a mid-to-late October wedding and spent a couple days actually planning it out and getting excited...only to be a little overwhelmed with the process and stressed about finding a venue. Oh, and it did NOT fit my timeline to be planning a wedding before I had actually proposed. Family is important to me, and my brothers were flying to Arizona on the 28th, so I was really running short on time do do everything the way I wanted it. Oh, and I hadn’t asked for her father’s permission...which I had planned on doing as well as promised Natalie I would. I knew that Natalie’s parents had gotten engaged on a bridge in Bend, OR so I wanted to stick with that theme. Natalie and I had visited a park in Tigard—Summer Lake Park—with several cute bridges and beautiful backdrops after our first time attending church together in February. I decided I wanted to recreate that date and propose on Sunday morning after going to church on a park bridge with a photographer staged and ready to take photos without Natalie knowing.

Natalie had told me earlier that week that her dad (a firefighter for TVF&R) had Saturday off, so when I texted him Friday morning asking if he wanted to meet up for coffee Saturday I was a little unsettled to find out he was on shift that whole weekend. It wasn’t until late Saturday that he reached out and asked me to come to the station for breakfast Sunday with him and his crew. That made the plan that much better...no way Natalie would think I’d propose the day I asked her father for his permission, and from a conversation the previous week she knew I hadn’t yet. That Sunday she picked me up from the fire station and was happy to hear I had a good time, and after a calm morning at church on our way to get tea I suggested we revisit the park. She said yes and we strolled around the park, walking the perimeter and reminiscing about months prior when we had walked the same path. After about 20 minutes we came to the final bridge, and there—after seeing the photographer staged on a bench a few yards past—I stalled for a minute with a short monologue I had prepared telling Natalie how much I loved her and how excited I was for our future before getting on my knee and asking her if she would marry me. She said yes!! We both shared some tears and then spent the next half hour in a fun and genuine photo shoot! When we got to be alone I asked eagerly if she saw the proposal coming, and to my dismay she did! She had an inkling it would occur that weekend because she knew my brothers were leaving, and then she KNEW it was happening when I suggested going to the park. She just knows me too well. The rest of the day we made phone calls to close friends and family and spent the rest of the day celebrating first with her family and then with mine.

Our wedding (elopement) was perfect. God definitely had His hand orchestrating it. Zack and I are huge planners and perfectionists. So when Zack came to me asking if we could get married in September (it was already September, mind you) instead of the "plan" of doing it all in May; I was shocked but also overjoyed! Zack likes his timelines, as do I, so for him to want to change it that drastically really showed that it was God speaking to his heart. This was God's plan for us. Everything just lined up. I already had a dress that I loved but thought I would only be wearing to a bridal shower. Zack already had most of his attire as well. We ended up not planning too much. Which shows the trust we had in God -- we didn't need to control this. Zack and I wanted to get married -- that was it, that's all we needed. Looking back at how beautifully and naturally everything came together, it affirms how right this was for us. I got to relax and focus on marrying the love of my life. I feel that if we did our ceremony in May with our entire guest list, I would have had so many unnecessary thoughts ("do I look okay?" "is everything set up right?" "is the food ready? ect.) I would have been trying to orchestrate every tiny detail instead of focusing on the true purpose -- marrying Zack! In the end, I got to be with our families, in the sun, saying out loud how much I love him, and nothing else mattered. It was perfect. It was exactly what I needed.