It was the summer of 2010. They were both camp counselors at an overnight youth camp. “I had gotten there a day early and was sitting in the camp office when I first saw him,” she said. They started dating July 11th. “I consider the day before we started dating as our first real date, even though we didn’t call it that. We had stayed up the entire night before just to prove we could. We ‘stole’ the camp pontoon at 4 AM and rode it out on the lake. That morning we went on a road trip to a Tiger’s game with some other counselors, but we were inseparable. He explained all the different stats and the players to me. We shared an iced lemonade. We sang girly songs the whole way back to camp. … I knew from the beginning that he was a wonderful person, but I’m learning every day that we make each other better people.”

I met up with both of them last week on the front steps of the church they’ll be married in next month. I can’t wait to be visit some of these same spots again on the first day of their marriage.

I asked how Mitchell proposed and he filled me in: “We were staying in a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. I wanted to get her onto the deck at sunset. We had taken pictures of the place we stayed at in Orlando on a previous vacation so we could show our families. I suggested doing a video tour of our place.”

Emily added in some details. “After hiking all day, we were famished so I suggested we just go somewhere to grab a bite. Mitchell obliged and we stopped at Olive Garden. Then we needed to get groceries for the week. By the time we got home, I was exhausted. Mitchell suggested we take a video of our cabin to send home. I agreed, but when he started to change into a nice shirt, I got suspicious. He videoed me walking around the cabin, showing off the different rooms. We got to the deck at sunset and he put down his phone. He got on one knee and started talking about our future life together and how he loves doing even the simplest of things with me. He asked me to marry him with tears in his eyes (they didn’t fall so it ‘doesn’t count’ as crying). Of course I said yes.”

Uh, gorgeous!! Emily, your smile is magnetic!

This has to be one of my favorites. I just love seeing them laugh together.