The swipe to end all swipes

Our modern-day fairy tale begins like most–on phones.

He noticed a beautiful face, incredible hair, a radiating confidence, and someone who has dedicated herself to working to improve the world.
She noticed a man who was dedicated to serving the Lord and who had the beautiful blue eyes she had been looking for her whole life. Plus, she thought, it would be *so* convenient to date someone who worked at church HQ across the street from her apartment!

They both swiped right. 🙂

Their chats lasted late into the night. She tried to manage her excitement about the possibility that this guy could be *the* guy. He was blown away by her google search results.

But the first date was a dud.

Undaunted, he showed up early the next morning with an audiobook they had discussed the night before. She thought he was a stalker and couldn’t get him out the door fast enough!

Nevertheless he persisted. 🙂

On their date he was dumbfounded that she did not have tv, but it turned out that an old roommate had left one behind that was just not connected. So he offered to set it up for her. This time she thought it would be impolite to push him out the door afterward, so they watched a movie.

Afterward, he got up to leave for what they both thought would be the last time, but then she had what seemed to be a heart attack! For over an hour he tried to take her to the hospital while she tried and failed to use the internet to prove that her symptoms were not serious.

At the hospital he impressed her with his sweetness–awkwardly turning to face the wall every time a doctor or nurse needed to attach another monitor to her chest. He stayed with her through the night and even took the next day off of work to make sure she was okay. She realized this was a man she needed in her life.

Soon thereafter, a friend of hers canceled their planned trip to Puerto Rico. Desperately seeking sunshine, Patrice asked Dean if he would like to step in. They left as friends, but when he carried her huge suitcase up three flights of stairs and across a rope bridge to a ridiculous urban tree house she insisted on staying in, she fell in love.

Later that night she pointed out to him that he obviously was in love with her already. He was surprised to realize that she was right. 🙂

She met his daughter on her 10th birthday. She had eaten approximately half of the contents of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory and literally ran down the street screaming with her arms flailing over her head at 10pm. Patrice considered running in the opposite direction…

Nevertheless, she persisted. 🙂

Two rodeos, two Christmases, a solar eclipse, and a mama bear transition later, Dean decided it was time to marry this girl! Knowing how much she loves fireworks, and feeling [over] confident that she felt the same about him, he decided to propose on New Year’s Eve in front of his entire family.

But she was not ready.

A few weeks later, after a lot of prayer and time in the temple, she knew he was the guy she had been waiting for her whole life. She took him to one of her favorite spots on the planet along the South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho and accepted his proposal.

And her mom happened to have fireworks to light off in celebration. 🙂

And they will live happily ever after starting on April 20th!