About Us
Eric and Diana’s Story
Diana and Eric first met in September of 2005, when Diana was in Washington for her sister’s college graduation. Diana’s sister Sharon introduced them at church, and invited him to join them at the fair the next day. Because Sharon was coming from Poulsbo, Eric picked Diana up, and so a great friendship began. They discovered they both had a passion for Jesus, hiking, dancing goofy in public, and chasing Middle Schoolers around. Eric put together a hiking trip while she was in town (with a couple other guys because neither one believed in hanging out one on one). They exchanged e-mails so she could send him photos from the hike, and began corresponding once she was back in Hawaii.
In November of 2005, Diana came back out to Washington for her cousin’s wedding. Apparently by this time, rumors were flying, but they chose to pay no attention. Eric and his family were at the wedding, and as Eric and Diana talked to each other, his mother secretly snapped pictures with her cell phone saying “That’s our future daughter in law!”
By this time, Eric’s best friend Josiah (and Josiah’s future wife Alyia) were living in Hawaii while Josiah went to YWAM. They invited Eric to come to Hawaii for Josiah’s graduation in February of 2006, but couldn’t find a place for him to stay. So Diana contacted some friends at her church and found Eric a place to sleep, as well as playing tour guide and chauffeur since Alyia had to work a lot (and needed their car). A couple months earlier, Diana had realized God was calling her to move to Washington, and shared this with Eric during his visit. She was excited to know she’d at least have one friend there who loved having adventures as much as she did.
In April of 2006, Diana moved to Washington. Although they never really hung out alone, Eric and Diana saw a lot of each other through church and small group activities. Their friendship continued to grow, and everyone but them saw the obvious, they were meant for each other! On July 11, they were planning to go see the second “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie with a couple other people. Those people ended up canceling, but Eric and Diana still decided to go (*gasp*) doing something just the two of them. Halfway through the movie, Eric put his arm around her shoulder and asked “Is this okay?” She nodded and tried to pay attention to the movie, despite the millions of thoughts racing through her brain. After the movie, they didn’t say anything about it, just got in their cars and headed to Bible study an hour early. But that night he sent her an e-mail asking if they could talk after volleyball the next day. So that Wednesday night, they went to Starbucks and DTR’d (Defined the Relationship).
Eric’s best friend Josiah was getting married a few days later, so Eric and Diana didn’t get to see much of each other the first week after their “big talk”. But on July 21, 2006 Eric called Diana and said “It’s a gorgeous day, do you want to come on a bike riding date with me?” Diana quickly agreed and headed for his house. They made the first three miles without any problems (amazing considering it was Diana’s first time on a bike in 13 years). But as they went down the first hill leaving the Black Diamond Bakery, Diana tried to go too fast, and lost control. She crashed and rolled down the hill passing a truck that was going 25mph! So their first date resulted in a trip to the emergency room. But Diana was impressed with Eric’s calmness in an emergency, and Eric was impressed with her toughness. It only took two weeks for them to know they were in love, and another few weeks to share it with each other.
On October 25, Eric decided to recreate Hawaii for Diana. He took her to their favorite Hawaiian restaurant, then took her to Redondo Beach. He waited for everyone else to leave the beach, then gave her a hug. She noticed he was shaking and began to worry that he was sick or cold. She asked if he was okay, but when he said “Well Diana…” she realized he was nervous and knew what was about to happen. He pulled out a ring, and dropped to one knee and proposed. Of course she said yes and on July 21, 2007 (exactly a year from their disastrous first date), they were married.