Trevor and Johannah

 From "Our Story" on TheKnot.com (written by Hannie):

Trevor and I met while I was out in Utah for two and a half months of clinical rotations for PA school. I had decided to work out there with my uncle in Family Medicine, and through a strange turn of events with another rotation, ended up needing to do a Pediatrics rotation as well, hence the two and a half months.

Before I left for Utah, my mom told me that I was required by her law to go on at least two dates a week. I was up for the challenge, so I downloaded a dating app once I arrived, and started swiping.

Sometime in the first week of being there, I received a message from this sweet-looking guy named Trevor. He was cute enough in his pictures, and he was the only man to ask me about my profile prompt stating that I wanted to visit the penguins in Antarctica someday. The conversation started something like this:

Trevor: "So when you go to meet the penguins in Antarctica, are you going to sneak down there to meet them or set up like a business meeting with them?

Johannah (me): I'm afraid that information is actually classified. I would be in violation of the penguin privacy act if I told you that. But let's just say, penguins may be the next form of underwater spy craft..."

This eventually ended up with Trevor being interested in joining the secret penguin spy society, and wanting to meet in person so we could discuss it further. I told him that I would need recommendation letters as well as a resume, and we set a date for a week after I had arrived in Utah.

The day of was a long day at work. I was exhausted, and despite our fun conversation, I was kind of dreading having to go on a date and be social and talk for a long time. We had decided on an ice cream date, going along with the penguin theme, so the date was easy enough, but I was worried I would be too tired to be my best on the date. I contemplated rescheduling for a different day, but eventually decided it would be best to just stick to the original plan and try and have a good time despite being tired.

I showed up, and spotted a man standing outside the ice cream shop. He had a blue folder in his hand. I got out of the car, and as I approached him, he looked like the guy in the pictures, except way cuter. His pictures definitely didn't do him justice. We met, and introduced ourselves, and after we went in and ordered our ice cream, he handed me the blue folder. It contained letters of recommendation written by famous penguins as well as a resume detailing his work with penguins in many different ways. It was hilarious and absolutely adorable, and showed an amazing amount of effort and thought. I was pretty impressed at this point.

We ended up talking for over three hours on that date, and I left feeling more energized than when I had shown up. I knew that was a pretty good sign. He also very creatively asked for my phone number, and soon after the date, asked if I would want to go out again. I told him that I did. As we walked back to our cars, I was excited for a goodbye hug, but apparently he was a little nervous, and he ended up just saying goodbye and walked back to his car without hugging me. We still laugh about this today :)

I had mentioned on that first date that I enjoyed demolition derbies, and it just so happened that six days after our first date was the Utah State Fair, which did, in fact, include a demolition derby. He asked if I would want to go, and I was more than excited to respond with a "yes."

(Now, my mom did specify that I needed to go on at least two dates a week with different people, so I still had a date to go on that week, but I wasn't overly eager to go out with someone else. I had already gone on a date the week before, but knew I wasn't interested in him after meeting Trevor. The next date I went on was fine, but I again found myself comparing him to Trevor, and finding myself unimpressed. This would happen another three times before Trevor and I decided we were officially dating.)

The demolition derby was an absolutely amazing time, and we laughed over trying to sit on a cow, naming every animal we came across, and making plans to break several of them out. We saw a sculpture made of butter, enjoyed the photography section, and after about an hour and a half of walking around, I finally grabbed his hand, and I don't think we let go of each other the rest of the date.

After driving me home, we sat in the car talking some more, and then he turned to me and asked if I wanted to go to Wendy's for Frostys. We had been together now for about seven hours that day, and it was late, but I knew when he asked that question that he liked me. I thought it was so sweet that he wanted to spend more time with me, and was finding ways to do so.

After that, we continued going on more dates, and after two weeks, he asked if I wanted to date exclusively. Thankfully, my mom had agreed to forego the "two dates a week with different people" rule after I kept talking about Trevor, so I could easily tell him that I did in fact want to be his girlfriend.

A month later, I asked him if he wanted to keep dating after I headed back to Michigan to finish out my rotations. He told me he did, and when I left in November, we had already both figured out that we wanted to marry each other.

He came to Alabama for my graduation and so he could meet my family, then we drove up to North Carolina so I could meet his parents, then continued to date long-distance after that. We could only see each other once a month because of work schedules and school and traveling and me starting my new job back home in Michigan. He had originally told me that he probably wouldn't propose until I came out for his graduation at the end of April, so I wasn't expecting anything sooner. In March, he came to visit for a week, and a day before he headed back home, we went for a walk in Maybury State Park, and on the dock overlooking the pond, he surprised me by asking me to marry him. It was the easiest decision I've ever made, saying yes to him, and now we're getting married in the number of days stated on the home page of this website.

I couldn't have asked God to give me a better man. Trevor is everything I've ever wanted, and I'm so excited to start our lives together. We are so appreciative of all the people along the way who have supported us individually and as a couple, so thank you for being there for us. We love you, and I hope you enjoyed the story of how we met, fell in love, and decided to spend eternity together!