I am so excited for these two to tie the knot!

I’m not just excited because they are adorable together or super fun to photograph — although those things are pretty great too. I am excited because Nate and Kathy are dear friends of mine. My fiance, David, has actually known Nate since they were 6 years old. You could say they go back a ways! They became friends in 5th grade and have been friends ever since. David, Nate, and I all went to a small private Christian school. When I say small, I am talking about 400 people in the whole high school total small. Nate and David were both a couple grades older than me, but since it was such a small school, you just knew everyone. I was on Student Council alongside Nate and knew David from a distance (because I secretly wanted to date him, but that’s another story for another time). Anyways, David and Nate went on to live together after high school while they both went to college. From the start of college, they got involved in Young Life, which is an awesome organization we are all still a part of today. Seriously, it’s the best. Come talk to me about it. 

Long story short, Nate ended up meeting Kathy through college Young Life. I have to laugh when I think about the beginning of their relationship, because I specifically remember an evening when a group of our friends was all together playing a game called fish bowl. If you don’t know what fish bowl is, you’re missing out. It was basically an integral part of our friend group. Okay, maybe not integral, but it’s a great game. In this game, you are given a few sheets of paper and told to write down any word or phrasing you can think of. Then, you divide into two teams. First, team members take turns explaining the word/phrase while other team members guess. Then in the second round, a team member can only use one word to describe the phrase. In the last round, only motions and acting are allowed. The inside jokes that have come out of this game have literally lived on for years. It’s important to note that at this time, Nate and Kathy were not “officially” dating, and their feelings for each other were not yet public. This particular evening, as a friend was writing down phrases, they saw Nate sneakily touch Kathy’s lower back.  So, for one of the phrases, it literally read “Nate Jones touching Kathy’s lower back.” To this day, that is one of the most memorable fish bowl phrases I can think of. 

Eventually they ended up dating and the rest is history! Now they are engaged and getting married just a few weeks after David and I — can I get an amen for October weddings! It has been so fun to watch their relationship grow over the last couple years. They challenge each other and challenge others around them as well. This exciting thing has happened this year where all of our good friends have either gotten engaged, or are getting married, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!