The summer of 2011, I joined ChristianMingle. I never thought I would ever join an online dating site and didn’t have high hopes for meeting my true love. A few weeks after being on the site I “smiled” at Alicia and we starting talking. I would keep my phone on me during work and look forward to the next message from her. We soon decided to meet in person at a church function. We both saw each other, smiled, and the rest of the night the conversation just flowed. We both felt like we had known each other for years and that same night we made plans to go out again.

For the next couple of months we went out on multiple dates to dinner, movies, pottery painting, and bowling. We even met each other’s families. In October, we celebrated Alicia’s 21st birthday together at Disney and that was the turning point in our relationship. We were at Epcot, walking around to the different countries and stopped in Japan. There in Japan they have this store where you can choose a clam, they will open it and reveal a pearl inside. She decided to choose a clam to find a pearl. Afterwards we were talking about the pearl and our relationship and I decided to have the pearl set into a promise ring for her. That is when we officially became a couple.

We spent the holidays together and on Feburary 21, 2012 I left for Army basic training for 9 weeks. We wrote letters constantly when I was gone and every chance I got to call I would. She was wonderful through the whole process, always uplifting and encouraging me and letting me know she couldn’t wait to see me again. In May 2012 she came up to see me graduate from basic training and that is when I proposed to her! She was going to graduate from college the day after I graduated basic so I had her dad bring up her cap and gown without her knowing. We took pictures together, both of us in our graduation attire and I got down on one knee, presented the ring, and asked her to be my wife and she said yes!

I went straight from basic to AIT after graduation and she went back home. AIT lasted 20 weeks and we planned our wedding apart through phone calls. She did an awesome job at planning without me physically there and keeping me updated on what was going on.

September 21st, I graduated AIT and the 22nd I returned home. She was there at the airport waiting for me! A week later on September 29th, we got married!

The Army stationed us in Hawaii and we are now living there. We could not be any happier and give all the praise to God for joining us through ChristianMingle!