Our Love Story
Bless:
So here is my side of the story, "the real story". From our first conversation we clicked. I can't tell you till this day what we talked about our first day, but we were on the phone for almost 8 hours! It was crazy to see how similar we both are. Anyone who knows me knows how corny I can be, but guess what? she is corny just as much! After talking for just a few months, I finally got to meet her in November. To be honest I didn't know if it would be the same. I don't remember a time I was more nervous to meet someone. Surprisingly, I was the shy one! I couldn't believe, even after seeing each other that we would still have that strong of a connection. Honestly, at the end of my trip, I knew she was the one for me. She was more than anything I could have prayed for. She would need a bit more time to catch up. In December, we knew this is what both of us wanted and after praying about it and feeling at peace, we told our families. I started planning the offical proposal shortly after.
The Proposal:
Julie’s birthday is April 26th and I knew I wanted to propose to her on that day. I wanted to have friends and family there if possible so I started working on a plan. First, I decided to convince and make it very clear to her that I would not propose - hopefully throwing her off. But she knew something was coming, so I encouraged her to make our official engagement on Saturday April 28th, to keep her mind occupied. I secretly flew in with my best man, one of my groomsman and her maid of honor on Thursday morning and planned a surprise birthday dinner party at Nine Mile Station with the help of her brother Justin and her close friend Mruga. She thought it was just dinner for Mruga and her but to her surprise there was about 15 of us. The best part was as she was on the elevator coming up to the restaurant, I sent her a picture of me at work from the day before wishing her a happy birthday. I cannot tell you how happy I was to surprise her especially when a few days before she told me I could never pull off a surprise party! We had an great time at dinner celebrating her birthday and then moved the party outside. We took pictures overlooking the Atlanta skyline and reserved a fire pit on the terrace. I gave a mini speech about how amazing she was and how lucky I am. I used the line I know - I want to spend all our birthdays together, got on one knee and asked her if she would marry me. She was so shocked she stepped back, turned around and just stared for a second before realizing she had to say the next line which she did. SHE SAID YES!! And the rest is history :)

Phebe:
I've always been told to pray for my future husband. No matter who is he or where he could be- just pray for him. I didn't take it too seriously, but I always knew the type of man I would want to marry one day. I had it down from his age to looks, character and even family. But when I met Bless, I didn't even really think about any of those things because it was just so easy to connect with him. From our first conversation, I knew he was someone special. He was the first person I wanted to tell all my crazy work and everyday life stories to! We were so similar and knew I wanted him in my life forever because he was my best friend. After talking long-distance for months, we finally met together in person. Bless began to tell me how I was everything he was looking for in a wife and that he wanted to marry me one day. I didn't even think about me or our relationship as marriage ready yet! Before even telling my parents about Bless, I started to really pray and reflect back on all of our conversations and moments together. That's when I realized he was more than I had ever prayed for in a husband. He was handsome, funny, God-fearing, etc. We had such an amazing connection and had the same thoughts on so many important life issues, I could see a future with him. I could not stop talking about how great of a person he was and realized that I was falling in love with him more and more every day. I believe Bless was gift-wrapped for me from heaven. Before I met him, I had so many questions to God about my future and if marriage was what he wanted for me -wondering who would be the right one for me. Even though I was not faithful to Him or prayed enough for my future, God granted me more than all of my hearts desires. I knew and everyone else around me know how much I light up talking about Bless. I had so much peace and happiness in my heart - not a shadow of a doubt saying YES to the love of my life! I thank God everyday for bringing Bless into my life. #juliegotblessed