I had just spent the day visiting my dad in the hospital, and my friend Taylor (Brandyn's cousin) invited me to go to dinner with her and her cousins. I went over to her house and we all left to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. Taylor and I were sitting on one side of the table, her cousin and friend were sitting on the other side of the table and Brandyn was trying to squeeze in on their side (even though there was no room). I told him I didn't bite, and he sat next to me. After dinner, we went back to Taylor's house to hangout. When I left, Taylor texted me saying Brandyn wanted my number, and she gave it to him. We talked for the next few days, and went on our first date to Biagi's in Naperville on December 23, 2014. He came over to pick me up and was able to meet both of my parents. And the rest is history!

Brandyn and I took our baby girl Penny for a walk at Hammel Woods in Shorewood. It is a trail we have been to before. Brandyn wanted to take a picture in the place we took last year by the river. He set up a tripod with the phone on a timer to take the picture. After a few seconds, I told him he will have to check to see if the picture was taken. He said he was going to give Penny some water. He knelt down and grabbed the bottle from our bag and gave Penny water. When he put the water back in the bag, he turned around and had a ring in his hand. I was in complete shock! I had no idea he was videotaping the whole thing. Whenever Brandyn and I talked about getting engaged, there were 2 musts he needed to do, and 1 thing that was a bonus: 1. He HAD to ask my mom for permission (call me old school ;) ) 2. I really wanted it on camera somehow and the bonus 3. I really wanted Penny involved somehow. He had all three of these things taken care of!

Due to COVID, we had to postpone our original wedding celebration. However, we could not wait to call each other husband and wife. We decided to get married on our original wedding date in our backyard with close family and friends. It was an absolutely perfect day! We are now looking forward to celebrating and renewing our vows on June 18th 2022!