Continued…

Narrator : She agreed to the date, utterly befuzzled. For their first date, Isabel grocery shopped alone–

Isabel : Rude that I had to shop alone!

Narrator : –and Justin came over to cook 

Isabel : More like meal prep because if you’re cooking 1 chicken breast, why not cook the whole packet!

Justin : Starting a life of meal prepping for Izzy

Narrator : He explained that he never had a crush on her friend but on her instead–

Justin : –hence the date we were on.

Narrator : By the end of the date, he convinced her to do a second one. On their second date, sticking to their theme of not leaving the house, Isabel went to Justin’s house for a cute Autumn date. They carved pumpkins, Isabel’s was way cuter than his–

Justin : mine was the cute one, Izzy’s was scary…

Narrator : They got tacos and started their tradition of watching Hotel Transylvania every Autumn. And thus began their dating life. 

Lianna : They DTR’d and everything. 

Narrator : Over the next few years, they enjoyed many adventures. From countless nights hanging out with each other, many date nights, and even an international trip. They went to his family’s for Thanksgiving, and he even met her Grandmother and extended family in Sydney Australia! 

Narrator : They learnt how to throw pottery, they made pasta from scratch, and many, many, many dates later, he proposed!

Justin : Eventually I knew it was time. We had been planning our lives together, coming closer in faith and I couldn’t even imagine what a day without Izzy would even look like. I knew that she was the one. Earlier in the year, I had been laid off from work and times were tough for a little while. The job market wasn’t giving any leads, and I kept hearing the call from God to take a leap of faith. 

Putting the most trust in God that I have in my entire life, I purchased the ring, with only dwindling savings to last through the next few months. From there, we spent time in Sydney and came back. I picked up the ring the following week and I was incredibly nervous carrying the ring home through Chicago.

The time had come to put together the proposal. I kept bouncing ideas around and trying to figure out what Izzy would love the most. Then, one day, it hit me. There’s one place in our relationship that we’ve always considered home, the beginning of our journey, Saint Clement. This was the perfect spot. So, I got to work.

I reached out to all our mutual friends. They helped me refine the idea and were a huge help on the day of. I brought four dozen roses over to Olivia and Swope a few days before the big day. I also made a reservation at a fancy restaurant to “celebrate my new job.” We got all dressed up for the special date. During dinner, I gave her a letter - continuing a tradition we started while I was at Notre Dame. At the end of each one of these letters, there would usually be three questions. But not this letter, not yet. Dinner was over, and we were both stuffed, especially because of the free dessert: a delicious chocolate cake with ice cream. After dinner, we took the bus home toward Saint Clement to go for a nice walk outside, just like when we first started seeing each other. 

We made our way over to Saint Clement, where I planned to propose. 

And from about 50 yards away, I was speechless. I couldn’t muster the words to make conversation or say anything. We walked up the steps of Saint Clement, with the rose petals laid out in a heart, and there we stood. I pulled another letter out of my jacket, with one question on it) While she was opening it, I got down on one knee. 

Izzy read on the letter, “My darling, will you marry me?”

She looked down at me, I pulled out the ring, and she said yes. (with tears in her eyes)

Isabel : Excuse me, if I remember correctly you were the one who cried multiple times that day, not me!

That’s our story thus far, we’re so excited that you can join us for this next chapter!