our meeting
We met Monday, October 7th at CRU Bible study, but didn't hit it off until the next night at the Western Oregon University Fellowship Bible study. We were involved with both of these communities, Mazie through mutual theatre friends, and I through direct outreach done on the college campus my first week in Monmouth. That Monday, my first impression of Mazie was that she was just another girl with another name to remember. Mazie thought I was dating someone else, and when she found out I wasn't, she wondered if I was potentially gay. On Tuesday, October 8th, we met for WOU Fellowship swing dance and Bible study. While dancing together, we got talking a bit more. We learned we shared a lot of the same values, conversation styles, hobbies, interests, and most importantly at the time, our love for playful debate. We got into an argument about an analogy from the message, after the talk. The question was if the Grand Canyon represents sin, us jumping into it is death, and how far we jump is our good works (so that our good works have no effect on our salvation), then what does Jesus represent? A zipline? A bridge? A jetpack? We settled on an eagle, but it was then that Mazie fell for me, and I noticed how fun she was to argue with.
our growing friendship
As Fall continued, we found ourselves always together. Between dancing, eating, and Bible studies, we rarely attended an event without the each other. So as the WOU Fellowship retreat was approaching, we looked forward to spending the weekend relaxing and studying God's word together. Mazie even made special arrangements to go, having to leave in the middle of that Saturday for a rehearsal. Friday night we stayed up until 2:00 am talking and playing games. Saturday, while she was gone, I noticed how much I missed her being there. I was anxiously waiting for her to return so we could go back to having such a good time. This is when I noticed I had fallen for her. She was just too fun to be around for me not to at least ask her on a date. When she returned I resolved to make the necessary steps to ask her out. Sunday, she drove me back to Monmouth. The next week, she was also plotting to get me to ask her out. She even bought me a cheesecake to eat in the park with her "for no reason". We both knew where we wanted this relationship to go, just not that the other felt the same. The following weekend, over text, we discovered we both were interested in giving this thing a try, only caveat was: I didn't have a job. I had just moved to Monmouth for college, and hadn't found work yet, but was determined to fix that before asking her out. I communicated this with her, and she was frustrated, but understood. I was on a job hunt for my girlfriend to be, and for the next month, we played the awkward game of "not technically dating" until God provided an opportunity for work. This doesn't mean that we didn't find every excuse to hang out.
our dating
After a little over a month of "not dating" I found a job at The Gate, which is a Christ centered after school program in Independence, Oregon. On December 9th I had my orientation, and immediately asked her out at CRU's end of term dinner that night. We then planned, based on a joke, to go to Costco on Wednesday, December 11th, as our first date. We had three friends who vowed to do a triple blind date to Costco earlier that year, but when that joke fell through, we decided to steal the idea and do our first date at Costco. We had a wonderful time, reading the lego books, browsing the baby toys, touring the food isles where her family buys bulk food. We even did some dancing in the toilet paper isle. We then got Thai food for dinner, and I took her home. The next day, I drove her down to Klamath Falls, Oregon to meet my family. I guess the date went well. Subsequent dates included: walks, movies, and building lego flowers on Valentines Day. It was time to start ring shopping...
our proposal
I bought the ring in January. Christmas deals got me excited, but didn't plan on proposing until March. I asked her parents permission and talked to a friend of ours, Mia Ackerman, to take photos and brainstorm for how the day would go down. I originally thought to do it at Crater Lake, but a brief amount of brain power revealed that Crater Lake in March is six feet deep in snow. This basic fact of the Pacific North West caused me to pivot my plan to Multnomah Falls, another beautiful scenic spot in Oregon. The plan was to tell Mazie we were doing a cute couples photo shoot with some of our paired up friends. All our friends were in on it, I just had to keep the secret from her. When I brought it up with her, she wasn't suspicious and she told me later she was trying very hard not to think about when I might do it. I am very grateful, she took this attitude. March 29th rolled around and we were ready to go. We left Monmouth around 10:00 and... parking was full. We parked two miles away and had to hike to go on a hike. Detour aside, when we made it to the park we toured the trail up the falls and took pictures along the way. I made sure to go past the main touristy bridge to make her think I had walked right the one place I might've proposed that day, and skipped the observatory at the top as well, telling the group we should just keep hiking along to see if we could find more cute spots further up the river. Little did Mazie know I had scouted this place ten days prior and found the perfect spot by Dutchman Falls, a second waterfall further upstream from Multnomah. We got there and took photos with everybody (all the cute couples got photos out of this too), and we went last, but when Mia was posing us, and getting shots of her with her back facing away from me, boom! I was down on one knee, ready to say those words when she turned around: "Mazhira Elaine Hull, will you marry me?"
his story
Josiah Kupitz grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon with his parents John and Heidi Kupitz and his two younger siblings Daisy and Jonah. Josiah is a passionate and dedicated person who has chosen to pour the talents God gave him into music, seeking to be a professional musician and composer, writing music for movies, television, video games, churches, dances, and ensembles of any size and skill level. He graduated from Klamath Union High School in 2024, and is furthering his education at Western Oregon University to make that dream a reality. Growing up, Josiah was an avid member of his community, attending church with his family at United Evangelical Free Church where his dad works as the Associate Pastor of Youth and Music. He also participated in the Klamath Falls Community Band, the Klamath Symphony, and his Ballet Studio, Rachel's School of Dance. Besides music, Josiah enjoys recreational ballet and swing dance, sculpting with Lego, and nerding out about Star Wars.
her story
Mazhira (Mazie) Hull grew up in Dallas Oregon, as number four amongst her seven siblings. Growing up she loved the Lord and found theatre to be the best way to serve Him. She has performed in many musicals and loves all facets of theatre: singing, acting, and dancing. She has been involved in social dancing since she was 13 through ECD (English Country Dancing) and recently has been enjoying country swing. Mazie loves being in the community and seeing how the Lord works through people. Because of this she has been involved in many ministries, primarily on WOU campus and CEF. She is currently working at Court Street Christian Developmental Center, in Salem. Mazie has many interests including: Drawing, reading, Lord of the Rings, and other geeky shows and books.