Michael & Abbey met working together for Liberty University Athletics in August 2023. Abbey was the business operations coordinator for sports medicine and Michael was the softball teams' athletic trainer. They went from working together almost every day to then also being in the same friend group. Their bosses, Chris and Scott, as well as their friends/co-workers, would always joke with them to "just date each other." At one point, Abbey even told Chris that she "would never date Mike." She wanted to remain professional and didn't want to ruin their friendship or mess with the friend groups dynamic. In November of 2024, Michael & Abbey sent their boss, Scott, a picture of them holding hands to keep the dating joke going. For New Years, their friend group went to Raleigh to celebrate and spent the first evening having dinner with Abbey's family. Michael walked in introducing himself to her parents as "their future son-in-law." Carole LOVED that! By the end of the week, the friend group hosted her parents at the Airbnb for dinner and Michael got Carole a bouquet of flowers. Abbey's family was sold on Michael. The dating joke was clearly no longer a joke on Michael's end. Rob even recalls Abbey giving him reasons why she wouldn't give Michael a chance. For Abbey's 25th birthday, her parents came for the day to spend some time with her & her friends. Michael stopped by and invited her family to the LU softball game at Duke University in March 2025. By the time that game came around, Abbey had accepted a new job outside of LU which meant she could no longer use work as her reason for not giving Michael a chance. At the game, Abbey's sister, Cassidy, encouraged Michael to ask Abbey out to which he replied, "I've been trying!" During the game, Carole encouraged her to give Michael a chance because "look at those eyes! He so clearly adores you!" Later that night, Abbey picked up Michael from his hotel, and they watched Rob's beer-league hockey game. Michael and Rob shared a beer and the drive back to Michael's hotel was filled with fun conversations and Cookout milkshakes. When Abbey went to drop Michael off, he said to her: "You know when you told me how you felt, you did all the talking and that's fine. When I come back from traveling with softball, I have some things I'd like to get off my chest." He then exited the car without letting Abbey respond. On March 30th, 2025, Michael took Abbey on their first official date to Neighbor's Place in Lynchburg, Virginia. On April 1st, he asked her to be his girlfriend. He tells everyone that he asked her out on April Fool's so if it didn't work out, he could tell everyone that it was always "just a dating joke." At one point early into their dating relationship, Michael told Abbey that couples should go through something hard before getting engaged. The following week he lost his job at LU and Abbey ended up in the hospital for 3 days. How's that for something hard! By the end of the summer, Michael had gotten a job on the Gulf Coast with FGCU women's soccer and Abbey was pretty much healed (thank you prayer warriors!). After many long-distance dates, flights, and celebratory moments, Michael proposed on New Year's Day 2026 at her family's lake house in Maryland in front of their friends who have always joked that they should "just date each other." Michael is currently located in Fort Myers and Abbey will move into their new home in June 2026. Michael has started a new job at PhysioRight and Abbey has started a new job with GOATED Golf. We are so excited to celebrate our wedding day and new beginning with family and friends in Cary and to live out our newlywed days in Bonita Springs, Florida! We love you all & are so thankful for everyone who has prayed for us, with us, and been a huge part of our relationship. <3