It was a dark and stormy night...just kidding! It was a perfectly normal Sunday afternoon about nine years ago. Brianna was working at our church as a preschool teacher, and Clark was visiting a worship service with his brother and sister-in-law. Clark had just moved to our city a few months before and was trying out new churches. Brianna was attending the evening service of the church since she had worked in the preschool that morning. Clark and Brianna started talking and hit it off! Clark talked about his college summers as a youth ministry intern, and Brianna's heart was doing jumping jacks on the inside. (A guy with a ministry heart is hard to find!) Our first date was at a Red Robin on a Sunday after church several weeks later. We had both been in relationships before and were intentional about discussing important issues early on in our relationship. After four months of dating, Clark proposed two days before Brianna's birthday on a paddle boat in her favorite park. Brianna was so surprised that she hesitated in responding...so much that the paddle boat floated towards the geyser in the middle of the pond and we both got wet! The first person we shared the good news with was the paddle boat attendant on the dock! Eight months later, we were married on a beautiful October day with friends and family surrounding. Since that day, our relationship has been characterized by fun, spontaneity, adventure, and love. We enjoy just spending time on the couch together as well as taking impromptu road trips across the United States. We talk about everything, enjoy being silly together, and are truly each other's best friend.

Brianna is a sweet, kindhearted woman who loves people well. She is very passionate about dance, starting from childhood and making her way to a professional dance company in a major Texas city. Although she doesn't dance professionally anymore, she can still be found dancing her own creative choreography around the house with a huge smile on her face. She has had the pleasure of teaching dance classes to kids for 20 years of her life, sharing her gift and love for dance with the next generation. She has worked for our church for 10 years in the Preschool Ministry in a variety of capacities helping lead the little kids to Christ while creating a safe environment for them to learn and grow. She loves little kids so much and her job allows her to make huge impacts in the lives of countless numbers of children and families. Brianna is a sweet, kindhearted woman who loves people well. She is very passionate about dance, starting from childhood and making her way to a professional dance company in a major Texas city. Although she doesn't dance professionally anymore, she can still be found dancing her own creative choreography around the house with a huge smile on her face. She has had the pleasure of teaching dance classes to kids for 20 years of her life, sharing her gift and love for dance with the next generation. She has worked for our church for 10 years in the Preschool Ministry in a variety of capacities helping lead the little kids to Christ while creating a safe environment for them to learn and grow. She loves little kids so much and her job allows her to make huge impacts in the lives of countless numbers of children and families.

We love to travel and go on adventures. We both love the great outdoors and big city life, so we have explored a great deal of the country on road trips together. The Grand Canyon, the Ozark Mountains, and Niagara Falls are just a few places we have visited. We also love to enjoy what cities like Nashville, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and countless others have to offer. The truth is, it doesn't matter where the adventure takes us. We just love each other's company as we enjoy doing life together. In terms of hobbies, Clark likes to spend his time hunting and fishing when he has the time. He has grown to love those outdoor hobbies from spending time with his father as a child. Clark also enjoys announcing events and enjoys spending many Friday nights announcing varsity high school football games as well as other sporting events. Brianna has training in dance and has performed and taught dance for many years. She still takes dance classes when she has the time and enjoys watching performances.

Clark loves fun, adventure, and spending time together as a family. He loves fishing and hunting trips with his dad and other male mentor figures in his life. Clark is faithful and loyal to his commitments and to the people in his life. He became a high school teacher right out of college and has continued faithfully in this profession for the past 14 years (he can't believe it's been that long already)! He is passionate about his work and about impacting the lives of the next generation. He teaches business classes as well as career prep and digital art/animation classes at a large high school and is also the head adviser of their local Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). He loves taking his FBLA kids on trips to state and national competitions and workshops so they can have experiences he didn't get to have as a child. Every year, Clark gets at least one letter from a student telling him that he was their favorite teacher and inspired them to pursue a career in business. Clark cares deeply about his students and their futures. His students know it, and they confide in him as a mentor and father figure. Clark loves to participate in extracurricular activities at school too. He regularly serves as the PA Announcer for district football games, pairing his love of football, love for students, and great radio voice! (He did radio announcing earlier on in his career.) Clark is also active at church. He has taught our adult Sunday School class for the past five years, making sure that the lesson is ready and teaching it with skill each Sunday. He also volunteers as a Door Greeter/Security Guard for the Preschool Ministry at our church once a month. Clark is the kind of man who is always there when you need him. He'll drop everything to make sure his family is okay, and he'll do it graciously. He is easy-going and is well-loved by everyone he meets. He enjoys being the life of the party as well as spending quiet time at home with me and our two dogs. He is prayerful and takes initiative to pray together with me nearly every morning before work. He also loves taking day trips, road trips, and other adventures with his family!

We have two fun loving dogs in our lives named Jack and Lucy. We adopted Jack within our first year of marriage. He was a rescue from the local animal shelter in town, and he quickly became part of the family. After about one year with Jack, some friends of ours offered us the chance to take care of a sweet little female puppy. We thought Jack could use a friend, so we tested out their relationship with each other to see if it would be a good fit. Jack right away become a mentor figure for Lucy, and we could tell that they would get along with each other just fine. Since then it's been almost six years as a "pack" together, and they bring us joy every day. Personality-wise, Jack is the quiet, reserved one while Lucy is sassy and vocal. We have a wonderful dog park about a mile from our house, so we take them there frequently to run around and play. They make friends with whomever they meet (dog or human)! They are also great with children and love when our nieces come over to visit. They are the sweetest dogs, and we are blessed to have them in our lives!