Take a wild guess where we met.......in a crossfit gym. Abbie was a junior in college and Travis was a graduate at a wrestling academy that was also located in that crossfit gym. We started getting to know each other in February of 2018. Abbie was very independent and happy on her own, working to finish college. Travis was busy with building his wrestling career and working as a barista at Starbucks. We would see each other in passing while at the gym. Travis expressed interest in Abbie, something she wanted nothing of. Eventually, he pursued her heart and it kind of worked. Both of us were passionate about fitness and would spend longer hours in the gym just to be around each other. I (Abbie) remember being so nervous to workout in front of him, trying to impress him with my athleticism haha. Little did I know, he was already impressed months ago. People started catching on that there was something more than a friendship between us. We started spending more time together. Abbie would hurry through her coursework just to see him, and Travis would leave his housemates at night just to see her. Abbie would visit him at his local wrestling matches, and one of his buddies knew right away that she loved him by the way she looked at him. It was only a couple of months in to knowing him and she already knew she loved him, and he loved her. Everything felt so easy from then on between us. We've become best friends, each other's biggest fans, lovers, and now soon to be husband and wife. We've both grown such a strong relationship built on the foundations of Christ, and we are so excited to celebrate our love with all of you!

We were in Des Moines, IA for the weekend because I was getting my crossfit L1 trainer certification. We stayed in a hotel and were excited to kind of get away (even though I was going to be gone from 9-5 both Saturday and Sunday). Travis kept mentioning how he wanted to go to a local outdoor park while I was in my course and find a spot that we could take a nice picture at. He knew I just wanted more cute pictures of us and I thought this was such a clever idea of his. On Sunday, after I had just finished the course and took an exam for the certification, he picked me up from the gym. My hair was all nappy and sweaty from a workout we had to do, and I was also starving (of course). Travis told me he found a spot to get a picture at but that we had to hurry because it was daylight savings and the sun was starting to go down. I let my hair down and threw a beanie on my head. We pulled up to the park and got out to walk towards the "spot" he was talking about. I remember it being pretty chilly out, so once he finally found the spot, I was relieved. He told me to stand up facing away from the camera and towards the pond. He was going to set the camera up on a tree so that it could capture us both looking out at the pond with his arm around me (his idea lol). I thought he was a weirdo and went along with it. He pressed the countdown button and started walking towards me, but then I heard his feet run back away towards the camera. I was impatient at this point and asked him where the heck he went. He said the camera fell (which later I found out it didn't, he just couldn't get the ring box out of his pocket haha). He then told me to stay put while he pressed the camera button again. At this point I was a little curious on what he was doing. He then walked up behind me, got down on one knee, and a dog ran up to us and was whistled away by the owner. Poor Travis. He then asked me to marry him and I of course said yes!

The best day of my life up to this point. I was excited, nervous, anxious and beyond ecstatic for what lied ahead in the evening. I had the ring safely secured in my backpack (had 2 scares leading up to this point ha) as we spent the weekend in Des Moines, IA. So, while Abbie was completing her crossfit L1 I decided to take it upon myself to find the "Perfect" proposal spot at Gray's Lake Park. After some time looking over different areas, I finally decided on the spot! I have it all planned out: I'll tell her that I have the perfect idea for a cute picture that we can take together. Snuggling up, backs to the camera as we watch the beautiful sunset over the chilly park. Anxiously awaiting, it dawned on me that November 1st happened to be daylight savings. As I nervously wait for her to get out of class, the sun continues to set lower and lower and my heart continues to race! I want this to be perfect and I really want her to have the most perfect view as I get down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with me. Finally, she messages me and says she's done! She gets into the car and I tell her we have to hurry, the sun is setting and I have the perfect spot to take a pic ;). We get to the proposal spot, I set up my phone on the ground and tell her that I have a timer set. As I go to take out the ring it of course gets stuck. I frantically turn around and run back to the phone, laughing as I tell her, "The phone fell." I'm still in the clear thankfully, but like a bozo I panic ever so slightly and tell her not to turn around for the pic, but to wait for me instead. Finally, I get close enough to her and take out the ring. As I get down on one knee a dog starts running towards us.. Nervously, I ask, "Will you marry me?" She says yes! "Put the ring on my finger Travis" ;) because of course I forgot to do it haha. We hug, kiss and embrace as the birds fly above us simultaneously <3. And on that day I became the luckiest man in the world.