How We Met
Jace and I went to school together all of our lives. From kindergarten to high school. We even played minor league baseball together! (We won a championship that season. Go Muckdogs!) Jace and I weren’t really friends until our junior year of high school when we were assigned seats next to each other in our AP US History class.
Being the sarcastic people we are, we hit it off well whispering sarcastic remarks to each other during class. Our teacher didn’t appreciate our comedic genius. She moved us across the room from each other in hopes to discourage our behavior. Little did I know, Jace had another thing in mind. Late one night, I got a text from Jace asking how far we sat from each other in class since we had been moved.
We decided it was about 11.6 feet. The next day, I came into class to find a can sitting on my desk. This can was attached to a string that went from my desk to another can on Jace’s desk completely across the room. He made a can phone so that we could still talk despite the distance!
From then on Jace and I talked every day. At the time, The Hunger Games was really popular. I had never been much of a reader, but Jace offered to let me borrow the first book, so I read it. It only made sense that on our first date, Jace and I went to the movies to see The Hunger Games. After the movie, our plan was to eat dinner at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Little Rock, Arkansas; however, we didn’t get out of the movie until after 10:00 when Kobe was closed. Our knew plan was to go eat at Chickfila, because who doesn’t like late night chicken nuggets? As we pull into Chickfila we come to realize that it is a Sunday night, which means no chicken nuggets. Running out of options and time, we decided Plan 3 would be to eat Burger King and head home. As we ate our cheeseburgers, Jace relentlessly apologized for taking me to Burger King on our first date. Being flexible is something that Jace and I have made an important part of our relationship since then!
how they asked
Foreign missions has always been on Jace and my heart and it was something that we wanted to experience together. In May of 2016, we went on a mission trip to Bucharest, Romania to work with a school for Roma and Romanian kids. We spent 5 days with the kids playing games, making crafts, teaching hand washing and first aid, and hosting an after school Bible club. On our off day, we rode up to Transylvania (yes, it is a real place) to see Peleș Castle and Castle Bran. Our first tour was through Peleș Castle which is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and luscious forest.
Before leaving, we decided to take a picture out in front of the castle since the scenery and architecture were so beautiful. Our friends posed in front of the castle first, we took their picture, and then we followed suit. Standing in front of one of the most incredible structures we had ever seen, Jace reached into his pocket, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him!
I said yes to my high school sweetheart in a country that will always hold a special place in our hearts, not just because of our engagement, but because of the sweet children we got to share Christ’s love with that week.
When I tell people that I got engaged in Romania, they always assume that I got engaged to a Romanian man or that Jace asked me to marry him in Romanian.
Neither of these things are true, but I like to tell people that I said “Da” instead of “Yes” just for fun.
