Although we saw each other from afar at bible study, we officially met through a random social gathering of friends at a fro-yo (Frozen Yogurt) shop in town during summer. We were sitting at the same table when our mutual friend Crystal formally introduced us. I (Richard) was sharing my passion for how I love inline skating (rollerblading). To my surprise, Heidi was excited at the fact and told me she had a pair and loves to skate as well! Naturally, everyone around the table was reminiscing of skating as a kid and having fun...

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I remember getting home and thinking about how I enjoyed getting to know Heidi and was looking forward to when I would run into her next. The thought of facebooking her crossed my mind, but then decided I'd just wait on it . Well, the very next morning I saw a friend request from Heidi! That definitely triggered some excitment for my very reserved heart! I then knew I had to pull together a rollerskating event at CalSkate in order to get to know her better. So, it became a facebook social event in which I made an open invitation to people. From there, she fell madly in love with my rollerblading skills and...ok maybe not, but I do remember showing off, just a little and at one point I was skating along when Heidi "rolled" up next to me and started conversation. From there we skated together asking questions pretty much all night. By then she had definitely caught my interest and I was not ready to end the night just yet, so I offered a social gathering to eat at Denny's after, the only place you could go at late hours. It was more opportunity to talk to Heidi, and engage in great conversations with some friends that joined us (Brooke, Rich, Jon, and Mark).

From there we kept running into each other just about every few days. Our encounters had finally been halted when I went on a week long houseboat trip for our youth summer camp. On the drive up, my very good friend Nick asked if I had any interest for Heidi because he was picking vibes. And you know us guys, we always gotta play it cool so it was "just an interest". Nick flattered me by saying he could really see us working. At one point during the camp, some of our highschool kids lounging next to me were asking the funny/nosey (but endearing!) questions that teengers do about me having a girlfriend. I told them about how I had a very small interest (truthfully, big interest) in a gal named Heidi. From there, The kids supported there old youth leader by cheering me on to get to know Heidi.

As soon as I returned from houseboats and spirits lifted high, I made an attempt to finally hang out with Heidi one on one. We had briefly caught up and she invited me to one of her worship gatherings she was playing at. I asked her if she wanted to hangout after. She declined because she said she was tired from work. I felt pretty shot down as I read too much into it. Being really disappointed and agitated at myself for even remotely allowing myself to be vulnerable, I Well, at least until 2am that night, when one of our youth kids texted me about our house boat trip asking, "how do you know if a girl likes you?". I remember feeling bad because I honestly felt this kid was asking the wrong guy. I was clueless. As I prepared to text him back, I thought about it then decided that I think Heidi was interested and that I was not going to let her go just yet! After texting the student back, I got on my laptop at 4am and sent Heidi an email (because I had to right then and there!) and proposed an offer to go out for dinner.

She replied back later that morning with a yes! And by the grace of God, she said yes again 10 months later when I asked her to marry me.

If you are interested in hearing about our proposal story, click this link here!

Thanks for reading and most of all thank you for being a part of our story and our lives. We look forward to sharing many more memories with you all!