Wedding Date on Jul 23, 2017

It was October 31, 2015, and the Oklahoma leaves were beginning to turn the colors of autumn. I was a 20 something girl who had just bought her first home and was flipping it thanks to her dad's help and some blood, sweat, and tears. Finding Prince Charming seemed like a nice idea but felt more like a distant dream. I had agreed to help host a costume party (in lieu of Halloween) with friends. We had been planning it for weeks, so I couldn't bail despite being exhausting from working all day on my new house. I threw on a blue polka dot dress with red high-heels and headed out the door as Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz. I told my roommate I would be back in 45 minutes because I was just going to say hi and donate my (unfrosted) cupcakes that I had agreed to bring. After running frantically late to grab some chocolate icing at Target, I drove up, recognizing every car there - except for one. That night I found out that several of my friends from college, who were all siblings, secretly had an incredibly handsome, intriguing and charming older brother I had never met before. I didn't know his name, but I was on a mission to figure this man out. He was dressed as a mysterious secret service agent. I made a few jokes about his costume, only to be embarrassed when I found out he was a former Marine Security Guard and had guarded the Vice-President of the United States a few years earlier. So embarrassing. Those "45 minutes" I would "be back home" came and went, only for us to be some of the last people to leave well after midnight still cracking jokes and debating politics.As only the sovereignty of God could orchestrate, the new church I was about to join was also where the entire Randall family had been attending church for some time. After 8 months of being invited to Sunday dinners after church, volleyball matches and lots of Vikings football games later-we built a deep friendship that led to dating on June 12, 2016.It didn't take us very long to realize this was a forever kind of love. We cultivate each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses. On February 5, 2017, he proposed out at my grandparent's ranch-my favorite place in the world, full of memories and meaning. With a picturesque red barn as the setting, surrounded by romantic roses and lights, he got down on one knee sharing the sweet words, "I love you," for the first time. (We decided early into dating we wanted to save those words until we were engaged just to keep them special...and they were). In between squeals and tears, I said yes! Six months later, on July 23, 2017, we were married at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City surrounded by 200 of our closest family and friends. It was the most incredible day full of sweet memories and a life-changing commitment that we are so grateful to live out together. For quite some time I prayed to know God's character each day more than I did the day before. I think marriage is an answer to that prayer.