Jess and Matt are engaged!!!!!

On Friday evening, November 9, Matt asked Jess to marry him! She said "YES!" Here is the story, written by Jess...

At 3:45 am on Friday, Nov. 9th, Matt came over to my house and woke me abruptly, saying I needed to get dressed because we were leaving. I kept saying, "I'm supposed to teach today!" Matt said he had already talked with my principal and I had the day off of school. At that hour in the morning, nothing really made sense, and it took me awhile to realize that it was not going to be an ordinary weekend! As I quickly showered and dressed, my roommate, Brienne, threw some essentials into a bag for me. Then Matt whisked me out the door and we drove to the Colorado Springs Airport. It turns out he had buddy passes (cheap plane tickets) from his friend, Brent, who is a pilot. We were on standby for a plane to San Francisco that only had 5 seats available, but 8 people on standby! Amazingly, we were able to get on the plane. When we arrived in San Fran, it took us awhile to figure out the public transportation. Eventually, we made our way to the Fisherman's Wharf, where we caught a boat to Alcatraz Island--yes, where a maximum security prison used to be! We toured the beautiful island and enjoyed time overlooking the bay's bridges and city skyline. Several hours later, we were back on the mainland watching street performers, poking into tiny shops and taking fun pictures of all the unique sights. We continued walking along the water to Fort Mason Park, and around sundown, we stood on a hill that perfectly overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge. As we reminisced about the past several months, Matt wrapped me in his arms and said, "Jess, I have a few words to say..." He then proposed...and I said YES! It was a perfect moment. Afterwards, I called my family--Hannah delivered a scream that still has my ears ringing. : ) We later took a bus to the Cliff House, a restaurant on the beach where we enjoyed a window seat, string music and a delicious dinner. Matt told me I couldn't plan our wedding yet, so we spent the time enjoying each other's company and reveling in how much God has blessed us.