We were sophomores in college and swiping right on Tinder :) The first message that Ben sent to Alana was, "Do you know Zach Johnson?" Of course Alana said yes! He was dating one of Alana's good friends from high school. Shoutout to Charisse and Zach! We continued talking and here we are, seven years later!

We continued talking for about a month and then Alana was in Lincoln, watching her sister's basketball game and decided it would be a good time for us to actually meet in person. She came to my dorm but insisted on getting food first. I met her at her car (I was expecting a range rover but unfortunately it was the little white nissan) and we drove through Wendy's. She ordered a chicken sandwich with fries and a frosty. We took it back to my apartment and she barely ate anything! - Ben Our first interaction was a drive through date to Wendy's. I ordered a whole meal but knew very well that I was not going to be able to eat anything because I was so nervous! I was able to introduce him to the best thing... dipping fries in a frosty! We watched many movies after and enjoyed each other's company! - Alana

It was a random Thursday evening in August and it was Ben's turn to choose where we were eating for date night that week. I had told him that I wanted it to be a surprise early on in the week and that he got to choose (I should have known something was up because he didn't fight me when I told him it was his turn). Thursday afternoon, I had sent Ben a text while at work asking what the attire was so that I could plan for that. He responded, "dress up. when was the last time we did that." I thought about it and was like yeah, he's right (the last date I showed up in a sweatshirt and athletic shorts). As we were getting ready that evening, I asked Ben where we were going. He told me that we were going to Jam's. I was caught off guard for a minute because that's not usually a place we go to. I finished getting ready and was sure that the surprise was over because he had finally told me where we were going. Well I was clearly wrong. After dinner, I thought we were going home but he definitely turned the opposite direction. I ask him where we are going and the only response I get is, "you said to surprise you." I start thinking of dessert places in the direction that we are going and we pass those so I just keep asking what we are doing. We turn into the parking lot of Lake Zorinsky and I am sooo confused at this point. I ask him what we are doing again. He parks the car and says, "we are going for a walk." Mind you, it is 95 degrees, I am in a dress, and we just ate a lot of food! NO THANKS! I decide to play along and get out of the car. I ask him how far we are walking and he says, "I don't know." I just keep asking him as we are walking and I am not getting any response from him. He must have gotten annoyed with me because he finally said we could turn around. First of all, I didn't want to start walking! So I said okay, I am ready to turn around. As we turn around, he gets down on a knee and asks me to marry him. As this is happening, a biker is driving past us saying, "Say yes!" Our photographer is behind us snapping pictures of it all. The best surprise date night that also happened to fall on our month-a-versary.