You may be wondering, "How did you and Riley meet?" Well, I'll share with you my version. There was very little that I knew about Frostburg, before I moved here. I actually knew nothing about it before I moved, but once I got here, I learned how small of a town it is. It'd say it's even smaller than my home town in Mississippi... and that's okay. God provides in His time. 

After being in Frostburg for 4 years, I decided to try online dating. I was pretty skeptical of idea, but adventure is out there; and ChristianMingle was running a holiday promotion! I decided that I would be willing to pay the holiday discount, and if I had not met anyone before the promotion ended, that I was terminating the account. Looking back, I didn't have much faith that God would allow the internet to introduce and connect me to my furture wife. Boy, was I wrong! 

I saw Riley's profile and loved the way she described her relationship with the Lord, her love for family, her love for music, and she was beautiful. I decided to be brave and say hello! Not long after that, Riley offered me her number. I don't know if you've attempted to use the chat/messaging system on ChristianMingle, but it's not the best. I was thankful Riley wanted me to have her number. Soon came our first Skype session, and then we both were very brave and decided to meet in real life. 

I called my sister and told her I was going on a date with someone from online and if she didn't hear back from me by a certain point, that she should send out the troops! She was on board! Riley and I met. I wasn't murdered and I really liked this girl! 

We continued to talk and go on dates. Our conversations were so in depth and meaningful. One night, I was scheduled a night shift and Riley and her best friend Liz, drove down (an hour drive) to bring me ice cream. We were officially a couple! Yep, she brought me ice cream and that made us boyfriend and girlfriend! 

About 13 months later, the same girl that brought me ice cream agreed to take my last name and spend the rest of her life with me! It's that easy folks, just bring someone some ice cream! :) 

Maybe it's because I am a girl who also happens to be a hopeless romantic...but meeting Justin and the way our story unfolded will forever be my favorite fairytale. I'd spent months pursuing only Christ and discovering myself in a way I hadn't before. It was the first in my life I had slowed down and felt content with the season I was in and I only wanted to move forward in seeking relationships that would be pleasing to God.

I began a prayer journal for my future husband- not knowing who he was or if it was even in God's plan for me to be married. Every few days I'd journal and pray for my future husband; for his relationship with his family, for his work situation, for any struggles he may be facing, for his finances, for his health. I'd pray for God to continue shaping me to be a Godly wife for whoever was seeking me. 

Justin reached out to me first on ChristianMingle and naturally I assumed it was one of those fake profiles meant to keep me as a subsrciber because...surely this wasn't real? We fell into a beautiful journey of late-night skype dates, four hour phone conversations about nothing and everything, and sharing music and sermons no matter the hour of the day. We were purposeful in our pursuit, we were intentional in the hard conversations, and we decided to meet three months after that first message. 

He wore a yellow and brown flannel and dark jeans on that first day. He took me hiking and to meet his friends on the third date. We went to the drive-ins on our ninth date. And the rest is history. 

On our wedding day, we'll be dancing to a song that I swear was written about us. I prayed for him before I called him mine. The best thing that I will ever do is to love him for the rest of our days together. His heart...I will always choose.

Here's to you Yogi, and the fairytale God has written for us.