I have the honor of getting to tell so many other people’s love stories so I wanted to take a minute to share Paul & my love story!

Our story started on October 5, 2018 at Arrowhead Bible Camp, where they were hosting the Fall Retreat for Shepherd’s Camp. My friend, Angel (you know her from Handstolearn), is the full time nurse for Shepherd’s Camp so I oftentimes would visit her during camp to get to see the campers & visit with her! I decided to come out on Friday night to enjoy camp after a full day of photo shoots…when I got there, I had dinner with everyone and hung out the rest of the evening. Once the campers had gone to bed, some of the past counselors visiting for the weekend gathered in Angel & Jon’s apartment to play some games & catch up. I needed to upload photos and get a few sneak peeks edited but I had forgotten my charger in the car so went back downstairs to get it. I noticed Paul playing a game with a few other people and knew that he was Deanna’s (one of my bride’s for this year!) brother! I decided to go introduce myself and we chatted for a few minutes before I went back upstairs for the night. I sent Deanna a message on Instagram telling her that I had met her brother and that “he was sweet” and then went to bed because I had a wedding the next day. I saw Paul around the next morning before I left but we didn’t talk at all. On Sunday, we followed each other on Instagram and sent a few messages back & forth.

I was up at my friend Kortni’s house for the week and I mentioned this cute, sweet guy to her…but then convinced myself that nothing would ever happen…”he’s too much of a catch to be single”, “he was just talking because he’s a nice guy & I’m photographing his sister’s wedding, don’t think anything of it”. My mind kept wandering back to him but I kept pushing it aside…until he replied to one of my stories! THERE WAS HOPE again! And we’ve been talking ever since October 13! The next day I had Deanna & Kevin’s engagement photos and he came along to the second half of the photos and then stayed for dinner & games at Angel & Jon’s. It was another long day of photo shoots (looking back at my calendar as I write this post, it stresses me out and makes me promise to myself I won’t do that again this fall!) so I was tired but was an excited, nervous school girl as the guy I thought was cute & sweet was sitting across the table from me! Angel made me stay after just to tell her what was going on and I was like nothing, just have sent a few messages back & forth. She said something along the lines of “well he was being sure to pay close attention to you and help with whatever you needed, AND he drove down from Syracuse just to see you.” The next day I was on a plane out to the Delight House in Washington State for almost 2 weeks…those 2 weeks away gave me time to process all the thoughts & feelings & allowed us to get to know each other over messages which was nice. I remember being in the kitchen and chatting with Marcia (& then again with Aurora & Kelli & Lauren….honestly pretty much all the other women that were there, anyone that would listen!) about this guy and being afraid to give it a chance because he seemed too good to be true. We were still talking over Instagram messages, we would send each other photos and little messages throughout the day and I found myself getting very excited to get home. It’s hard to explain why being across the country was a good thing, but it gave me a confidence I probably wouldn’t have had if I was home (I think knowing that we had those 2 weeks to chat and he wouldn’t want to go out on a date the next night made my introvert, nervous, I don’t want to be hurt heart feel better) and it gave God time to work on opening my heart & mind up to being ready to be in a relationship. On my drive back to Seattle, I had nearly 3 hours in the car by myself to pray…I prayed for God’s wisdom & blessing & to make it very clear if it might be something more with Paul.

That day, Paul was at work with the individual with special needs that he works with and they were bowling and I said some comment about being good at bowling and a bet was made. If Paul won, he wanted to take me out to dinner…my heart was RACING! “He wanted to spend time together! Maybe he wasn’t just being nice! “ I arrived home at 5am on a Thursday, slept for a few hours and then went to help my friend Erica set up for her wedding…then it was rehearsal & rehearsal dinner and then wedding day! Sunday, I had a few photo shoots & then I got to sleep! Monday, October 29 was our date!!

My very first official date and I was SO nervous! We met in Binghamton which was kind of the halfway point for us for a lunch date at the Lost Dog Cafe. Just as I was pulling in to the parking lot, he texted that he was there and had a table and to let him know if I needed money for parking. I started tearing up and texted my friend Madie for one last boost of confidence. I said “this might be it!!” because as nervous as I was, I also felt a peace about it. I walked in and honestly the whole lunch was a blur…I’m pretty sure I asked him all the same questions I did via text and ate about 2 bites of the chicken but he was so sweet. I didn’t want the date to end so when it came time for dessert, I suggested that we walk to Craft Bar for one of their milkshakes. It was by the window in Craft that Paul asked me if I wanted to go to a concert on December 1! I still feel all those butterflies just thinking back about it, we just clicked from the very beginning and everything just felt natural. It was as if he was a puzzle piece that perfectly fit. After we said goodbye, I drove to my friend Rachel’s office in Binghamton to tell her all about it! What is so special is that back in August, Rachel & I had been chatting one day and decided to pray at 9:10 every morning for our future husbands. We set our alarms on our phones and faithfully prayed. Rachel met her Ollie (now fiancé!!!) in September and here we were a month later and I met Paul! It was such a blessing to see God’s faithfulness in our lives.

The next day was a Halloween Party at Arrowhead Camp, which Paul & his individual came down from Syracuse for. Things got real, really fast as my entire family was also going to be at the Halloween Party. We both dressed up as scarecrows to match my whole family and had a lot of fun with a hayride & trunk or treating! Our next date was Friday night where we went to Nirchi’s Pizza & then to a Binghamton Devil’s Hockey Game. Then I was flying back across the country…this time to Arizona for the United Conference with Delight & Be! Marcia will tell you, I was in la la land! I couldn’t stop smiling and talking about Paul! It was a packed couple of days at United, we had so much fun but oh was I ready to get home…the night after I got home, Paul came to our house for dinner to be able to see each other before I went to Maryland for a wedding that weekend. The night he was at our house, he asked my Dad for permission to date me and then while I was away that weekend, Paul talked with his parents & family before finally talking with my mom on Monday when he came down to visit again. Then on Monday, November 12 as we were sitting on the couch in my parent’s living room…Paul asked me to be his girlfriend & I started tearing up! It was such a beautiful moment, knowing that we had our parent’s blessing to start this relationship! I had prayed and prayed for the man God intended for me and here he was! I never dated through high school and let me tell you, it was 100% worth the wait to have Paul as my first boyfriend! To know that you have a mature, God-fearing man who respects you and wants to care for your heart, is such a huge blessing!

It was one last whirlwind week of travel out to California with Kortni where I ended up changing my flight to get home earlier so I could go up to Paul’s house in Syracuse on Sunday to meet his parent’s & family. As I was driving up 81, I stopped at a rest station to get a drink because my throat was so dry from being nervous! It had snowed the night before and I went to clear off the back of my truck (I forgot to do it before I left because I just wanted to get there!) and as I walked around the truck, I fell and got dirty & all wet! All I could do was laugh because that was such a me thing to do…I cleaned it off as best as I could and off I went. Paul’s family was so welcoming and it was nice to have Deanna & Kevin’s familiar faces at the table!

The past 6 months have flown by…it feels as if we have been in each other’s lives forever yet it also seems like just yesterday that we were sending those first messages curious as to if the other one liked us. Paul Victor Savich, I’m so thankful for you! I love you!