The story began in the small town of Vermillion, South Dakota in 2013 during their first year of graduate school for physical therapy. Apparently Eric had a crush on Ally from the beginning, and invited her to dinner on Valentine's Day. In typical Ally fashion, she suggested that they all go out as a group, so unfortunately for Eric, that date never happened. Fast forward to 2016 after graduating, they were both reunited at a classmate's wedding in South Dakota. Shortly there after, Eric moved to Washington State... and the rest is history!

After graduating from physical therapy school, Ally and Eric started annual hiking trips with their good friends and fellow PT classmates, Brock and Lori. It was the third day of their trip in Zion National Park. After much contemplation, they convinced each other the view at the top of Angel's Landing would be worth the challenging hike. Upon reaching the summit, resting a bit, and snapping multiple pictures, they all agreed the hike was well worth it! Prior to their descent, Eric asked Ally for one more picture. He then got down on one knee, opened the little black box with a diamond ring and proposed! Brock and Lori captured the special moment and popped open champagne to celebrate!