I'm 30 years old and was born in Illinois. I've lived in Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana, Texas and Florence, Italy. I have three younger sisters who are all married. Kari and Kaci live in Colorado and Kimberly lives in Oklahoma. She and her husband have two kids: my niece Carli and my nephew Caleb. I graduated from Highlands Ranch High School in Colorado, where I ran track and played soccer and volleyball. In 1997 I graduated from Harding University with degree in Business and Science. After college, I worked for Pep Boys, then in Oklahoma on a building project for a synthetic fuel plant. I left to teach junior high and high school science at two charter schools in the Dallas area. A few years ago I moved back to Colorado to work with our family business, Wiley Consulting, LLC. We mainly work in the mining industry, although we handle all types of projects. In my spare time I enjoy playing soccer, volleyball, rock climbing, hiking, skiing, camping and travel. Most of you know I also like working on cars and have several that I love, including my first car, a 66 Mustang, which I'm giving a new engine, among other projects. I attend Littleton church of Christ. Lately, my life has made the best turn yet and I'm really excited to be married in just a few short months!

HOW WE MET – by Amy

Many of you have asked how we met, living in two different states. My parents moved to Colorado a couple of years ago and I soon started hearing about this great guy they knew from church named Kent, mainly from my sister Katy. She convinced me we had to meet, so she invited Kent to a cookout at my parent’s home when I was in town visiting. We had a great time talking, but didn’t think much beyond that since we lived so far apart. A few months later I was visiting Colorado again and bumped into Kent at church. We ended up going out three times that week and the rest is history. During the next seven months, we saw each other every two or three weeks if not more. We’re excited that 800-mile distance is now just two miles…and we get to see each other every day!

THE PROPOSAL – by Amy

Friday, January 16th, 2004 did not appear to be a good day for me at first. After waking up late to a rainy day, I rushed off to work. When I was driving back to the office, my car hydroplaned on the slick streets of Addison and I got into a wreck. Though the damage was fairly minor, I knew it would be costly. I tried to call Kent, but for the first time ever he was unavailable. I talked to his father and sister who work in his office and they simply told me he was "out." I thought it was strange when I did not hear from him for several hours. Frustrated with the day's events, I told him I was looking forward to seeing him the next day when he was due to arrive in Dallas for a visit.

That evening I hurriedly got ready to go out to celebrate a girlfriend's birthday. We're a group of friends who have been close since junior high, and we always mark birthdays with a dinner together. This time the other girls suggested Arthur's. While it was a much more expensive restaurant than our usual celebrations, I was excited to go because of the history and romance it held for me. Kent and I had an incredible date there, and both my parents and grandparents had also dined there during their courtships. The hostess led us back to the row of "private velvet rooms" which are intimate booths hidden behind velvet curtains. She pulled back the curtain to reveal Kent sitting at a table with two-dozen white and pale pink roses. He stood to kiss me and explained that he came to ask me something…and immediately got on one knee and said, "Amy Leigh Wallis, will you marry me?" I covered my mouth in awe, then replied, "Yes!!!" He slipped a beautiful diamond and platinum ring on my finger. I looked over at my friends who were grinning and capturing the whole event on video, as they had been in on the plan all along. Kent said he had something else to give me. He hand me a Bible with my new name engraved on the cover: Amy L. Wiley. Inside he had written a page-long letter detailing his love for me along with the importance of our faith in our relationship and in the future as a married couple and later as parents. It was a beautiful inscription, written with the silver Tiffany's pen I gave him for his 30th birthday.

The rest of the evening, we savored our romance and celebrated our engagement. Kent arranged for my friends to have dinner at a separate table. We lingered over a delicious meal and shared our thoughts and expressions of love. He revealed that he had gone to ask my parents' permission two weeks earlier, and even stopped by their home again to show my mother the ring. After dinner, we ran through the rain to meet up with my girlfriends and their husbands to celebrate further.

I can honestly say Kent's proposal to me was just what I had envisioned since I was a little girl. I always looked forward to the day when a handsome man would get on one knee during a romantic dinner and ask me to be his wife. Kent is all I hoped and prayed for and more. We're anxiously looking forward to our wedding on July 17th!