We’re getting married!

Grant and I met in June of 2018 on a blind date. One day back in April of last year, my best friend was praying for me and an image of Grant popped into her head. She had never met him, but knew his brother and really respected him, so she told her mom she wanted to set up Grant and I on a blind date. Her mom readily agreed and the next day in church she brought it up with Grant's mom. The two moms got overly excited and decided this was a fantastic idea. That day, Grant’s mom called him and asked where he was going to be on June 17th - literally a date two months away, and said she wanted him to go on a date with me.

While my best friend and Grant’s mom were extremely excited to play matchmaker, neither of us wanted to go on our first date. Grant is four years older than me and thought, “there is no way I’m going on a date with a 25 year old who lives in Texas.” He even ranted to one of his friends the week of the date and almost came up with an excuse to not show (he legitimately was flying to Paris an hour after our date so I can’t blame him for this). On the flip side, my best friend and her mom told me that they wanted to set me up on a blind date the next time I was in D.C. and they showed me a few pictures of Grant. I thought, “man he is cute, but… he is so short!” Shallow I know…it’s something we joke about now.

Despite our best efforts to NOT go on our blind date, we ended up grabbing drinks at Clyde’s in Columbia, MD. We had a wonderful time talking for three hours about our lives, work, ministry, theology, relationships, hobbies, joys and families. At the end of the date, Grant dropped me off at the airport and said good bye. What I didn’t know, is that he hurried back to his place, picked up his luggage and rushed back to the airport (he was flying out of the same airport at a later time) to make sure he could “casually” run into me again (which he did and it was awkward...).

Two weeks passed, we texted a little, and he set a phone date for us when he arrived back in the States from his work trip. We ended up having phone date #1 which went very well. Grant made me laugh a lot, and in turn, he actually thought I was funny! Then phone date #2 happened and we talked for 4 hours…during which my roommates kept coming into my room asking when I was free, then giggling that I was still talking to this guy I had only met once, that lived 1,000 miles away. On phone date #2 I mentioned that I would be in DC for work in a few weeks, and he asked if he could see me. I said yes!

After the end of my work week when I was back in D.C., he picked me up at noon on a Friday and we had a 12 hour date! We explored the city, went hiking, sang loudly in the car to music and cooked dinner at his place. After the date, he asked if he could book me a different flight home that weekend so we could spend an extra day together. I said yes and we enjoyed another amazing day with each other! That weekend, we started to realize that we could actually see a future together. Both Grant and I knew that if we were going to date it would be serious, fast - neither one of us wanted to waste time. Once I flew home that weekend, he called me late Sunday night and asked if he could fly out to Texas the next weekend for 5 days to visit. I was shocked that a guy would pursue me so boldly! I hesitantly said yes, but made a BAJILLION back-up plans with my friends when he visited. My thought was, “in the event things get awkward, I’ll bring my friends along so they can help.” Luckily I didn’t need to rely on my friends - we had a wonderful time when he visited me in Texas for the first time and might have even had our first kiss ;)

From that weekend, through the rest of the fall, we didn’t spend a week apart. We both had remote jobs, and as long as we had a laptop and wifi we could travel wherever we wanted. He traveled to Texas for weeks at a time and visited with my family in Colorado. I flew to D.C. and spent time with him and his family. Our relationship grew deeper as we continued getting to know each other. The weekend before Christmas, Grant flew out to Texas to visit me before the holidays. That Saturday we drove up to a beautiful hiking spot in Oklahoma, and Grant proposed by the side of a river. We cannot wait to start our lives together in April!