In September 2022, Alyssa went on a family vacation with her mother Nora, Uncle Dom, Aunt Susan, and cousins, Leigh & Alex to Estes Park, Colorado. As fate would have it, her cousin Alex invited his best friend from grade school to come up to the mountain house for a few days. That best friend was Sam. Alyssa and Sam immediately hit it off and about a month later Sam traveled to New York City for a business trip where Alyssa happened to be living at the time. They reconnected in New York and had a night frolicking around Lower Manhattan, going to a comedy show and some of Alyssa's favorite spots. That night quickly led to the start of a long-distance relationship, where Alyssa and Sam would FaceTime every day and fly back and forth between New York and Colorado every couple of weeks to see each other. Lucky enough, both of their companies had offices in Chicago- so on September 1st 2023 (exactly one year from the day they met), they each packed up their own Penske truck and moved across the country. Alyssa and Sam love their new neighborhood and enjoy all the perks of living in the Windy City. In August 2024, they flew to Germany to attend a reunion for the Ahrens’ side of the family. During the final night in Einbeck, Sam interrupted a traditional German drinking chant by getting down on one knee and popping the question.