They met in college; both were in leadership positions which meant helping students move in was mandatory. “She was an RA checking in her students and I was carrying their belongings up the stairs. … The next time I heard Eva’s name was when an acquaintance of mine mention her,” Aaron said.

“Our first date was October 15th. I remember I really enjoyed being single at the time, but I knew I’d be the biggest idiot ever to pass up a chance to take this girl on a date. So at this point, we both knew we liked each other and planning that date was something I was admittedly a bit nervous about.” He decided they would go to his favorite restaurant and then meet up with some good friends of theirs to go to a pumpkin patch & corn maze. “The date was great and I was hooked,” he recalled. “My love for singleness was thrown out of the window and I knew that something in me had changed.”

When asked how she knew he was the one, Eva said, “I knew probably 6 months after we started dating. I was in his room waiting for him to be done with basketball practice that was going long. I was so excited to see him even though I had seen him a few hours before! I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life waiting for him to get home!”

Aaron said he knew last spring. “I took Eva on a date to a Mexican restaurant and then we walked around a park. It was that day I was going to tell Eva I loved her, but just two minutes before I was going to do so, she asked me if I loved her! So, of course, I started laughing because that just seems to be typical of our relationship. But it was about a month before that when I was sure she was the one. Towards the end of May when Eva was in Iowa and I was back, I knew for certain. We volunteer with the elderly and one elderly woman once told us that distance names the heart grow farther and that long distance relationships fail. I love that lady, but she is crazy! Ours wasn’t really even long distance since it was only a month apart from one another, but it was during that month that my heart grew fonder and I knew she was going to be wife one day.”

Though they live in Arizona, Eva grew up in Iowa and they are getting married here this summer. They were back for a short trip over the weekend and I loved getting the chance to meet them (and some of their family!) in person and photograph them. I am so looking forward to their wedding and I know it’s going to be a day filled with joy, Christ-centered love, and Eva’s gorgeous beaming smile.

Aaron proposed towards the end of January. “It was difficult for me to keep it a secret for so long because I was dying to ask her. I had her father’s blessing and the ring on December 21st and I wanted to ask right away, but decided to wait for the right time. My plan was to go to Payson, AZ with a small group of some of our closest friends from our Bible study. We were going to go to Tonto Natural Bridge, which was one of our first dates and that was the day I asked her to be my girlfriend. On that date, we went on a little hike and eventually got to the beautiful view of the natural bridge where we took one of our first pictures together. It was in that spot that she thought I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend, but instead I did it later on as we were hammocking. I wanted that same spot we took the picture to be the place I proposed.

“The trip was all planned and when we got back, there was going to be a house full of about 30 of our closest friends waiting for us for a little engagement party. The morning came and we were all loading up in the van when we looked up Tonto Natural Bridge online. It was a beautiful 60 degrees and sunny day in Payson so I was excited. Unexpectedly, we saw on their website that the trails were closed due to icing. I was certainly not expecting this so after having a quick two seconds of panicking, I remembered that champions adjust and I found an alternate place. I decided on Horton Creek in Payson, but I didn’t know the exact spot I would propose. The group I was with knew the signal was when I asked one of them to take a picture of us. That entire hike I was frantically searching for the spot I would do it while trying to remain nonchalant. I knew our time table for the party had also been thrown off too, but luckily I don’t really get stressed out about things so it was all good.

“I passed a number of places that I thought could be the spot and after about an hour of hiking, I suggested that we turn around and start to head back. I was looking for one of the places I had noted in my mind as a good spot. I was also just anxious at this point so I found the first spot I could after we turned around and [proposed]. She was surprised (which I was hoping for), and she also didn’t really know what to do. The moment I told her I wanted to say something to her, she knew and just buried her face in my chest while I talked to her. I then stepped back and got on one knee. I have never been happier in my life than I was in that moment. I was on a knee for a while as she kept saying that she thought it was all a joke. I joke around a lot, but I told her proposing is one thing I will never joke with her about. The rest of the day was amazing as we headed back and joined all of our friends waiting for us back home.”