How We Met: the road to marriage

In the Beginning: Erika: After spending the summer of 2010 as a missionary for Life Teen at Camp Covecrest in Georgia, I knew I wanted to do it again. However, despite my desire to return to Covecrest, God had a different plan and called me instead to Camp Tepeyac in Prescott, AZ for the summer of 2011. At first I wasn't thrilled about spending my summer at the retreat center I had been to so many times before, but little did I know... Frankie:  During my freshmen year of college a good friend of mine came to me and said, "Frankie, I have a summer job for you." After having worked at Covecrest for the previous three summers, one of which was with Erika, my buddy Luke urged me to look into doing it myself. I checked out the Life Teen website and I was sold! A Catholic summer camp was exactly the adventure I needed. He suggested I work at Camp Covecrest, but I wanted my own camp to work at. I had been to Arizona in the past and I loved it, so I applied to work at Camp Tepeyac in Prescott, AZ. Evidently I chose the right camp.. Erika: The first time I saw him, he was coming up the escalator at the Pheonix airport on the day all of the Tepeyac missionaries arrived. I remember being excited to meet him because we had a mutual friend; but that was as much as I knew about him as I hugged him and said, "Hi, I'm Erika. You're Luke's friend, right?" Frankie: When I first met Erika I remembered her from some e-mails we exchanged before camp. She was a veteran to this whole camp thing and seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm going into it. As I enjoyed a sandwich for lunch Erika plopped down right next to me and starting eating her salad. She then began to explain how she was not only lactose intolerant, but gluten-intolerant as well. I thought to myself, this girl was crazy... Erika: Almost week into our time at camp, all of us missionaries took a trip to the Grand Canyon. This was the day I claim to have found my best friend. On the long drive home, Frankie and I sat next to each other and talked about Saints and faith and everything else we could think of. And eventually, he fell asleep on my shoulder.  Frankie: For the week or so of camp, I kind of kept to myself. During free time everyone else would play games and get to know each other and I would be outside practicing my jump shot. The start of camp was like the first day of college for me and I was trying to find my place. When we went to the Grand Canyon I came out of my shell a little. On the ride home I sat next to Erika. After our great conversation I thought to myself, alright, this Erika girl is actually pretty darn cool. Dating: Erika: In the last few weeks of camp, as Frankie and I became better friends, I began to develop feelings for him. However, because we weren't supposed to date at camp and I thought I was just being silly, I prayed intensely for the feelings to disappear. However, on the last night of camp, the last night I might ever see Frankie, I caved. In a mess of emotion and confusion, I asked, "What if it wasn't so crazy?"  Frankie: As camp rolled on, Erika and I became best friends. Other missionaries approached both of us asking if we had a romantic relationship forming. Both of us couldn't help but laugh at the question, especially since I was convinced that I would never marry a woman with bigger hands than me! When she shared her feelings with me on the last day of camp, I was flattered, confused, and surprised. At the time, she was just a good friend to me; but a week later, I called her to share some feelings of my own. After realizing how much I truly cared about Erika, I asked her to pray with me until October 1st, to see if God was calling us to pursue a relationship together. Erika: On October 1, 2011 at midnight, we sat on the phone, 900 miles apart. He called me his girlfriend and I called him my boyfriend and we fully admitted that we were the cheesiest people on the planet. Seven days later I flew to Colorado to see him for the first time since camp! I was terrified it'd be weird and that we'd realize it wasn't meant to be; however, the moment I hugged him, I knew it was perfect. At the end of the weekend, when my mom picked me up from the airport and asked how it was, I replied, "I think I'm gonna marry him..." Frankie: When Erika came to visit me for the first time I was blown away by her beauty. Our first weekend dating was fantastic, and our relationship continued to grow after that. Every Sunday we would Skype and end in Night Prayer. Those Skype dates were the highlights of my week! I knew we had something special forming... Leap of Faith: Erika: After only a few months of dating, the two of us knew quite clearly that we had something great. In November of 2011, I began a 54 day Rosary Novena to Our Blessed Mother Mary to pray about moving 900 miles away to be closer to a guy I knew for less than a year. As crazy as it sounded and as scary as it seemed, on June 1, 2012, I moved into my very first apartment in Greeley, Colorado, just down the street from Frankie's house. Frankie: The old cliche for marriage is, "when you know, you know." Well after a few months, if not sooner, I knew. Erika was the one. She would drop hints about engagement and they made me feel uneasy. Around November 2012, though, these uneasy feelings went away. In discernment and prayer the idea of proposing just felt right. Proposal: Erika: After months and months of prayer, Frankie and I knew that the Lord was calling us to marriage and it's safe to say I got a little impatient! After Christmas in 2012, I knew Frankie could propose any day and I made sure I was ready by always having my nails painted and making sure I actually did my hair when he took me on dates. However, I got so impatient that I began searching for any little clue and tried to narrow down the days it could happen on. The week before we actually got engaged, Frankie told me he was going to take me on a big date; everything in me felt that this was it! I told my roommate that I thought Frankie would propose the following weekend and she informed me that almost all of our friends knew Frankie's "plan" and unfortunately, that weekend was not it. I was crushed. So much that I cried my eyes out to Frankie and apologized for being so disappointed. Again, little did I know...  Frankie: As my discernment increased, my Spiritual Director suggested I ask God for a specific date to propose. The Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes was coming up on February 11th and the date sounded perfect since she has been so important to my life. Seeing as the 11th was a Monday, I knew it would be hard to do it on that day, so I decided to pop the question on the 10th. We spent a beautiful day in Estes Park on the 9th and I was nervous as all get out the morning of the 10th. I tricked her into running by the chapel after Mass that morning and after I quickly changed into my suit, and grabbed some flowers, I led my future bride down the stairs to the chapel. There, I told her it was my job to get her to Heaven and that I would be by her side until my death. I asked her to be my bride, and she said exactly what I expected... SHE SAID YES!