ARPRI “PRE”

I’m originally from Illinois and am no stranger to traveling to explore different cultures and experiences. I relocated to Oklahoma from Arizona after exploring opportunities generated by the Tulsa Remote Program. Unfortunately, the opportunity fell through, and I found myself in a place that–at the surface, didn't appear to be a city with the cultural or dating opportunities I desired. I told myself that I’d try it out, but likely wouldn't stay long term.

To my surprise and great gratitude, I found my wife, something I'd looked for for a long while, but continuously decided against simply settling for someone I wasn’t really sure about.

RACHEL

I'd definitely have to say this was a "God thing" being that Pre moved to a state he'd once declared he'd never move to (especially after he’d seen tornado wreckage on the news years back). We met on a dating website, I popped in and swiped from time to time maybe a handful of times. I rarely reached out to my matches or used the site , but when I saw that Pre and I mutually matched, I thought 'why not?'

Pre's profile was simple, but well written, he was handsome, and at the surface, he appeared to have good character, so I said hello (the website required the women to open conversation after matching for safety purposes). That said, I was my usual skeptical self... right up to our first actual date. At my request, Pre patiently waited a month before we went on our first date to ensure I was comfortable meeting him.

us

After we talked on the phone multiple times daily & learning about each other, we decided it was time for our first date. Pre drove 2 hours to get there, he had never been to Oklahoma City before and was still new to the state.

We decided we’d eat at a seafood spot. Following dinner, we headed to Bricktown (downtown OKC) to hang out. We initially planned to hang out for just a couple of hours but those couple of hours spanned into the rest of the evening.

We talked for hours sitting near the canal. In the past, we generally both kept initial dates pretty short, just in case the connection wasn't there. We knew we had something special and continued to forge our bond via the phone and then we began to travel to each other bimonthly then moved to weekly visits, trading off on weekends. Pre was gracious and did the bulk of the traveling.

Rachel

Pre is such a sweet, kind, gentle, tenacious, loving, and protective person. His love for his family and his patience are just a couple of the things that I adore about him, not to mention he is easy on the eyes :-D. He loves the people I love ...simply because I love them.

Pre worked to show me that he respected and supported my values and faith life. Pre is undoubtedly the husband that I (and my parents) prayed for--I love his heart and his clear intentionality when it comes to me and those I care for. His brother informed me that although Pre is the baby of the family, he is also the first college graduate out of his sibling group. For me this illustrated his level of focus and tenacity that I still appreciate to this day.

Pre

Rachel is smart, beautiful, driven, thoughtful, and family-oriented. When courting I realized how easily I fit into her family. I also appreciate Rachel’s kind heart; on the day that we first met, she welcomed me after my two hour drive with a homemade mini chocolate cake--I didn’t think I’d like it (not a fan of chocolate cake), but it was delicious. The most important thing that I love about Rachel is that helped me to become closer to God. Without being overkill, she made sure that we studied the Bible together and sent me scriptures every morning prior to work.

In my bachelor days, I was especially thankful that my (now) wife cooks really well. Once we became serious, she noticed the pathetic bachelor meals I was eating. After she teased me about it, she always ensured that I had enough dinner to eat when she was in Okc and I was in Tulsa . After about a month of meeting her, I already knew this woman was my wife. We worked to grow together and earn each other’s trust. We were engaged in six months and had our wedding around the one year mark.