Sam and I started communicating with each other in October of 2011 on ChristianMingle. Funny, the exact date and circumstance is a bit fuzzy to the both of us. I believe I messaged him first. His picture just captivated my attention! The words that came to mind were “clean cut.” I was blown away by this man!

The communication began, and phone conversations would last sometimes three hours or more. We set up a first date, which involved Sam driving to Deep Creek, Maryland from his home in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. It is a two-hour trip. He drove to my apartment, and we went to my brother’s house just down the road for a brief visit before going out dancing. Wow, what a magic night and first date!

We continued dating, taking turns driving back and forth to each other’s homes on weekends. We had to share our weekends with Sam’s two daughters, so many times we would go two weeks without seeing each other. We talked a lot on the phone, so we had plenty of time to learn about and appreciate each other.

Sam told me he loved me after two weeks of dating! Wow, he blew me away! I fell just as hard for him as well! We talked so much about marriage through our dating life, but Sam wanted to make sure his daughters were okay with the idea of it. His thought was that you should date someone at least through the four seasons before discussing marriage.

Our first date was November 12th of 2011, and Sam proposed to me on December 22nd of 2012 at the foot of a huge cross at a Christian camp called Jumonville near the Laurel Mountains in Pennsylvania. We were on our way down to Deep Creek to spend Christmas Eve with my brother and his family. Sam wanted to hike up this mountain, in the cold and snow, to see a 40-foot cross. He did buy me some snow pants for this adventure. Once we made it to the top, I needed time to catch my breath and warm up a little.

Once I could breathe again, Sam took my breath away by asking me to be his wife! He got down on both knees, in the snow, and proposed! Meanwhile, there was a partial blizzard with very little visibility, but nothing mattered because my soul mate just asked me to be his wife! My reaction was hyperventilation before saying yes! We skipped down the mountain trail like two young school children!

We married on May 26th of 2013. It’s coming up on our two-year anniversary already and I count my blessings each and every day for my husband!