Makenzie’s Version:

We met in 2021 at my family friends’ summer BBQ get-together. Tyler and his parents had recently moved up and started working at my home church. I was still nervous around new people so my dad did most of the talking at the time. The fact that he spent three years in Australia at Hillsong intrigued me, but by the end of the day we went our separate ways. About a year later, I decided that I wanted to go camping with the young adults. I was the first one to arrive after the Bernheisels. We were a little awkward at first but then we went out on the water and had some fun paddle boarding. We got to talking and I started to think more about how cute he was. I also noticed that his camera tended to be pointed at me more than some of the other events that were going on. After spending a lot of time together that weekend, I wanted to know more about him. I was too shy to ask for his number so I asked his mom since she was one of the young adults pastors and I felt more comfortable with her at the time. I started by asking if I could see the photos from the weekend and, unfortunately, they would not send over messaging. This meant that I had to actually go into the church to get the photos from him. We started talking again and I asked to join his tech team with the church. What started off as a way to get an in with him became one of the things I looked forward to each week. A little while later I asked him to come over and play video games when I was home alone. He suggested we go get coffee instead. After taking a sip of our coffees, he started off the conversation by asking if I liked him. I had not had someone be so direct, so I was a little caught off guard. I said that I did and he assured me that he liked me as well. We walked and talked until it got dark. It felt like we could just keep talking for hours. I asked to keep our relationship just as friends for a while. However, that did not last long and we officially started dating a few weeks later. Over the past year I have learned a lot about him. It has also been a growing process for me. It has changed both how I view relationships and my relationship with God. It has been an amazing year and I can’t wait to see what is in store for our future.

Tyler’s Version:

Just over two years ago I was brought to a gathering with people from Portland Christian Center. It was there that I met Makenzie for the first time. She totally ignored me so I talked to her dad and brother most of the time. She didn’t say much and I never really got to know her. A year went by and I didn’t see her again until a Young Adults camping trip that August. I kept pulling her into everything I was doing to convince her to do it with me, which she did. A week after that trip I got a text from her. She had gotten my number from my mother and she asked for the pictures from the camping trip. It was a request I had gotten many times before and was happy to do it. However, the photos were too large to send via text. I told her if she came to find me on Sunday I would happily give them to her, in person, via Airdrop. I was a little excited that I got to see her in person more. She came to find me on Sunday after church ended and we chatted a bit—then she came to lunch with us as well. If my memory serves me correctly, we were out with other people and some of the kids wanted me to sit next to them, so I didn’t get to chat with her as much as I wanted. A couple weeks went by and we had small talk here and there. Then she asked me if she could join my tech team. Of course I said, “yes you can join!”, mostly because I was desperate for volunteers. Running a tech team on your own with twelve volunteers on a Sunday is hard. I was also looking forward to getting to know her better and stuff. About a week later she invited me over to play some games with her. I turned her down because it felt weird to do that. I was also beginning to suspect Makenzie might like me a bit at this point. I convinced her to change our plans to go get coffee and talk. She said yes!! We went to coffee at AVA where I asked the most straight forward question anyone could ever ask, “do you like me?”. Her face turned beet red and she took a little while to respond. My question made her nervous because it was so unexpected to her. I wasn't going to beat around the bush with this stuff. I don’t date to date, I date for one goal. Her final response? “A Little bit…”. I then began to talk about where we could go from here and what we should do, but she stopped me and asked the same question. I had a slightly hard time responding. I mustered up my courage, looked straight at her, and said, “yes, I like you too”. After coffee we talked and walked for a while before I took her home. We played the “we are just friends” card for about a month. Mid-October of 2022 I asked her where she stood and suggested we should go from the “will they or won’t they” question to actually seeing where this could go for us. Fast forward to about December . . . I began to make savings goals because I decided this was it. I promised her that we wouldn’t rush things and we would do a year of dating. This also gave me time to save some money to help prepare. In August 2023, I finally told her what I was saving money for. She ran off right away and found out what size of ring she wore. Soon after, we made plans to go look at rings and figure out what she wanted. I planned to come back once she had decided and have it made so she wouldn’t know. That plan didn't work. The jewelers said that if we didn’t purchase the ring at that moment, we wouldn’t be able to get it. So I purchased it and held onto it for about two months. She knew I had it and, of course, kept pestering me about it. This led to me figuring out how to surprise her and make it a nice, beautiful moment. Proposing at the Zoo Lights was an idea suggested to me. I planned a month in advance, found a date and time that worked with family and friends, and proposed. The day can’t get here any quicker. I am so excited for our future together with our dreams and what God has planned for us!