They met through a mutual friend a couple of years ago at school and then started texting over winter break. “Since then we have not stopped talking,” Ashley says. “I knew that Jon was the one after about 5 months of dating. There was not a moment that I just knew, but many little moments. When Jon and I first started dating, I had just started nursing school. Let me tell you, I was not at my most attractive. I was stressed, anxious, and not my typical self. Jon was with me through all the stress and tears and reminded me 100x that he always had my back. That following summer, I was filling out my schedule and getting all nervous for another semester of nursing school, but I also had my soccer season that I had to juggle too. I started to get nervous that I would not be a good girlfriend and Jon wouldn’t want to date anymore. I visited him in Iowa one week and, I kid you not, I cried every night I was there and Jon held me close and prayed over me every night. These two moments and many other moments confirmed that I never wanted to walk through anything without him by my side.”

Jon recalls that “once we started dating I was hoping that she was going to be the one because she makes me very happy. We both felt very comfortable with each other and I was just hoping that she was going to be the one. Update: she is the one.”

I had the best time getting to know Ashley & Jon this past weekend! They were packing in a ton of wedding finalizations this past weekend when Ashley was back in town and I’m so glad their engagement session was one of them because, truly, we had so much fun!

Jon proposed this past winter break. Ashley had planned to go visit Jon and his family over New Years and he had told her that his family was going to take some family pictures so she needed to take along something to wear for them. “A week before I proposed, I talked with my mom about how to do it and she gave me the idea of doing a fake family photo shoot at out church. Our church had all of their Christmas tress still up so it looked really nice. The night of the proposal, we took a few pictures as a family, and then we moved up to the stage and Ashley and I took a couple of pictures together and then I dropped on one knee and popped the question. I was very nervous and I thought she was going to know, but she had no idea and it made it a lot better.”

Jon says he admires her drive to constantly be better. “The fact that she is always working to better herself every day makes me admire her so much.” Ashley adds that the one thing that she admire the most about Jon is his compassion for others. “Jon will drop anything and everything to help someone in need. He always is making sure everyone is feeling included and puts others needs before his own.”

When asked what they’re looking forward to most about their wedding day, Jon says, “Honestly, the thing I’m most looking forward to about our wedding day is waking up the next morning and realizing that I get to spend the rest of my life waking up with the same woman that I love. That right there is the thing that I am most excited for, and its not even the day, it’s everything else after the day.”