Hey, friends!
In case you haven’t heard, I am now a fiancee! I said yes to marrying the man of my dreams, and it has been a whirlwind of love, excitement, and wedding planning ever since. Today, I wanted to share just a small glimpse into our love story but from both of our perspectives! I asked Sam to sit down with me in Starbucks and recall the start of our relationship up to now, and he did a great job telling his view of our relationship story. It was so fun to reminisce on everything that we have been through over the past few years—the ups, downs, mistakes, joys, adventures, and experiences that have grown us both individually and in relationship with one another. Just like any relationship, ours has most definitely not been perfect. What we have written here is just the highlighted version that explains our beginning and summarizes everything up until now.
Sam asked me to marry him on December 31, 2019—exactly three years from our first date. Of course, I said yes.
Sam’s Story:
I was told about Annie at dinner one evening early in my sophomore year. My friend, Zack, and I talked about going to a barn warming that night, and I was told that Annie would be there and that I could dance with her. When we first got there, I danced with other girls until Annie and her friend, Maddy, showed up late (surprise). I was asked a little later if I had danced with Annie yet, and I hadn’t at that point. Zack pointed her out to me while she was on the dance floor with someone else. Once she had left the dance floor, I walked up and asked her to dance, and she said yes! We two-stepped for a while before I took Annie outside to show her how to swing dance. It was mostly talking with a little dancing!
We didn’t see each other for several weeks after that, and then when we finally did, she made a very sassy and mean remark to me at the dinner table! I thought, “Well that wasn’t very nice!” But it obviously didn’t scare me away.
That night, Zack and I dressed up in suits to act as ESPN contributors for “College Game Day” at the basketball game taking place that night—where Annie cheered on the sideline!
Only a couple weeks later, we were truly reacquainted at Bobcat Bash.
I learned via Maddy that Annie was available, so I amped up my flirting game. 😉 We raced through a bouncy house obstacle course against each other and I WON. This was my chance to spend more time with her for the rest of the night.
That same night, Annie and I went on a “double date” to Steak ‘n’ Shake for milkshakes. That was also the same night that I dared Annie to slap me—and she did! (Not gonna forget about that one.)
The next week we hung out almost every evening. We would pick up a dessert, drive through Branson, and look at Christmas lights. Our first actual date was on December 31, 2016 and I had absolutely no idea at that time that three years later on that day, I would be asking her to be my wife.
In March, Annie came to visit me at home in Crane where I gave her a bouquet of hand-picked daffodils and a note that I would not let her read until she left town that evening. In the note, I asked her to actually be my girlfriend. Now, here we are. I’ve asked her to be my wife, and I look forward to a lifetime of walking through life with her by my side.
Annie’s Story:
In September of 2016, during my freshman year, I met Sam for the first time. I had agreed to go to a dance with my friend, Maddy, that took place in the sale barn at College of the Ozarks. While there, I was told of a guy named Sam who “needed a good girl.” I, at the time, was not single. That did not stop Sam from at least asking to dance with me. He flashed his cute grin and offered me his hand, and I went for it. Not having much experience swing dancing and having just seen him on the dance floor with other girls, I was intimidated. But he patiently taught me some simple steps and even some not so simple ones! (At one point, he did kind of drop me to the ground, but we choose to overlook that detail!) While he taught me, we made small talk, and after the dance that night, I didn’t see much of him around campus for quite a while.
A couple months later, after I was newly single, it seemed like I saw Sam everywhere! At the traditional C of O campus event, Bobcat Bash, Sam and I were reacquainted at the starting line of a bouncy house obstacle course—which he absolutely cheated on by pulling me off a climbing wall! Over a milkshake double date that night, I was pretty interested in this cutie and couldn’t get enough time with him. Anytime I saw him on campus from that point on, my heart raced like crazy. One evening, he walked me back to my dorm after a convocation we both had to attend, and we stood outside talking in the cold for quite some time. When we finally said goodnight, I received a text from him not even ten minutes later asking to go get milkshakes. That night began a week of evenings spent with Sam: driving around to look at Christmas lights, getting shakes at Steak ‘n’ Shake, and sitting in my dorm parking lot to talk for hours.
I was pretty crazy about him.
Our first “official” date was on December 31, 2016. I had never felt truly nervous around him all the times that we spent together prior to that point, but this evening, I felt so sick to my stomach that I thought I was going to be sick!
Now, over three years later, here we are: engaged and soon to be married. I am so deeply in love with my Sam, the man I call my best and truest friend. He knows everything about me—my best and my worst—and loves me still. I look forward to spending the rest of my life loving, honoring, and spoiling him. Samuel Paul Sowell, I thank God every day for the man you are and for getting to spend the rest of my life as your wife.
Thank you for reading a little glimpse into love story! We cannot wait to be husband and wife, and I so look forward to sharing with you all that I learn throughout our engagement.
Do you want more content like this? Relationship content? Wedding planning content? Let me know via email (scholarinstyle@outlook.com), Instagram DM, or in the comments below!
Until next time,
Annie Lark (Soon-to-be-Sowell!)
“We love because He first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
ANNIE BOYD SOWELL 