The first day that I signed up for my ChristianMingle account was the day that I found Justin’s profile. I only had a free guest membership at that point, so I sent him a “Smile”. He wrote me back a message, but I wasn’t able to read it until I paid for the membership, which I did the next day because I just had to know what he said! As it turned out, the day I contacted him was the last day of his membership! He was planning on cancelling his membership that same day that I signed up!

Once we both started emailing back and forth, we were obviously interested in getting to know one another. Receiving a new email was a highlight for both of us. We asked all the questions we would want to know and got to know each other easily without the pressure involved with dating. We exchanged phone numbers a few days after we began to email each other, but we didn’t end up talking on the phone until a few weeks later. We took it slow as we got to know each other. Because we lived almost two hours away from one another, this added another dimension to our relationship.

We planned to meet in June to give it a month of just getting to know each other, but we couldn’t wait and ended up meeting in person on May 27, 2012. We felt so much pressure, but also giddy excitement about meeting for the first time. It all turned out so well and he had a cute date planned for us. When we first met, we walked his dog around the neighborhood and then he took me to a store to get supplies for a secret activity we were going to do. I could not figure out what he was planning, but he said we would be “flying” and the supplies we bought were paper and poster board. My best guess was we were going to attempt to make our own kites. He drove us to the top of an open-air parking garage and we had a paper airplane contest! It was the perfect activity. It made us more relaxed and we laughed so much that night. We threw about twenty paper airplanes off the building trying to see who could get theirs the farthest. The poster board was for our last turn and mine ended up going farther! We collected all the paper airplanes, then went back to his house and sat around and talked. Then his roommates came home I got to meet a lot of his friends, which was fun! I was introduced to the southern term of “visiting” that night. They are all from the south and enjoy just sitting around and talking, which I was never used to, but enjoyed to a great extent!

That was the first of many weekend trips for us. He came down to visit me a few times and then the next time I went back to see him, he took me to a historical park. We explored through the orange groves, rose garden, bamboo forest, amphitheater, etc. and had so much fun talking and laughing. We had held hands before when he visited me, but at the park was the first place we felt we were right for each other. Everything about us, from the beginning to present, has kept that feeling that we are right being together, which is definitely the predictor of finally finding the one.

On June 16, 2012, he asked me officially to be his girlfriend and, of course, I accepted! We also shared our first kiss that day. We made such a great pair and everything was fitting together easily. We came from different backgrounds: him from Tennessee with a Seventh-Day Adventist background and me from California with a non-denominational Christian background. Both of our families and friends were in support of our relationship and it has been such a beautiful experience for us to grow closer together. We both love Jesus and are so blessed to have found each other. Honestly, an online dating site was the last place we thought we would find our future spouses!

In the beginning of “Justin and Lindsay”, ever since our first emails, our talks on the phone, and all throughout dating each other, there would be little remarks about marriage on both sides. Both of us knew from the very beginning the other person was special and most likely was the one. As months went on, we talked more about marriage and we both knew we were on the same page. In November, we began saying “I love you” to each other, which was a big step in our relationship. He always told me that the next person he says “I love you” to, he would marry. It was a big sign of his commitment to me. After that, we started throwing around potential dates for a wedding. My sister, who I wanted to be my Matron of Honor, lives in France most of the year, so our options were limited. We had discussed what type of ring I would like, so we both knew an engagement would happen soon–I just had no idea when!

Fast forward to December 9, 2012, with multitudes of exciting weekends. That weekend, we drove to my parents’ house in Northern California to spend time with them and, unbeknownst to me, Justin asked my Dad for permission to marry me. That night, we planned on driving home from my parents’, unpacking our stuff at his house, and going back to the park he first took me to. We had only been there that one time before when we held hands and we always talked about how we wished we could go back and kiss in the bamboo.

The bamboo forest reminds me of the bamboo trees at my elementary school, where my parents were administrators and teachers. We had to uproot ourselves from that school when I was little and move all the way to Washington, which was hard on all of us. Ever since my childhood days at that school, bamboo has had a sentimental feeling to me because it reminds me of my childhood days growing up at that school. So one can only guess how overjoyed I was when we explored that park that one day in June and found the bamboo forest!

Planning to go back to kiss in the bamboo seemed just like a normal date for us and I had no clue he was going to propose to me there! It was pitch black once we got there and he even “got lost” on our way to act like he hadn’t been planning anything! It was a very cold and dark night in December and we got out of the car, bundled up in jackets, and made our way to the bamboo. He kept throwing out unsure comments on whether or not this was the same spot we were at before and whether we were going in the right direction and on and on so I wouldn’t catch onto his cleverness! Someone had even built a bamboo tree swing this time around, which increased the magic of the bamboo forest greatly!

There is a large space in the middle of the bamboo with the trees encircling it and once we got to the middle of the bamboo, we closed our eyes and started kissing. It was my favorite kiss ever! All of a sudden, though, I realized it had gotten very bright, so I opened my eyes and I saw strands of lights hanging all around us on the bamboo! I was so confused and delighted all at the same time! I looked back at him and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! The ring he picked out was one we both liked when we talked about it before and the box was perfect for proposing in the dark because when he opened the box, it had a light in it, so it made the ring sparkle! I always thought I would cry at my proposal, but I was so shocked, I couldn’t feel any emotion besides happiness. He did such a good job at planning it and making sure he would surprise me. He had a friend, roommate, and his brother and sister help set up the lights beforehand and they were hiding in the bushes videotaping the whole thing. It was the perfect proposal!

Justin has made me feel like a princess from the beginning and, all cheesiness aside, he has always felt like my Prince Charming. Cinderella has always been my favorite Disney movie, both of our pets are named “Jazz”, and there are so many other coincidences that have made it all feel right from the very beginning. He is such a gentleman and respects me so much. My mom calls him “Mr. Considerate”, which he lives up to every day. I have absolutely no doubts about being with him and am so excited for August 4, 2013 so we can become husband and wife!