Andrew and I met my first week of college at Michigan State University during our dorm's "open door night" on our floor (shoutout to 4th floor South Wonders!) My roommate (and BFF/bridesmaid) and I ended up becoming friends with Andrew and his friends, and over time we created an awesome friend group that became our family at MSU. That first fall semester we spent most weekends together, and I would frequently go to the boys' side of the hall to hang out with Andrew and his friends. We dealt with a few bumps in the road at the start of our friendship, but by the time I was a sophomore we were both in a good place to make it official, and Andrew became my first "real" boyfriend. Fast forward 10 years later and we're about to be married!

My mom and Andrew’s mom had talked about getting everyone together to go to a Michigan State football game in October, and Andrew and I thought that would be a great way to celebrate his birthday that was also that weekend. We arrived in EL and Andrew told me we had to pick his little brother up at his dorm, which happens to be the same dorm where we met. He said he wanted to get a quick picture in front of our dorm together and then walk to my brother’s, and I strongly objected to this plan. It was pretty difficult for the majority of the drive and I thought it was odd that Andrew was being so persistent about taking a picture, but brushed it off as we were there for the game/Andrew's birthday. We had also recently discussed waiting to get engaged, so a proposal wasn’t on my radar. We pulled up to the dorm and I quickly jumped out of the car to get the picture over with. Andrew was taking some time “getting a different lens” for his camera, and I was becoming even more impatient. Andrew’s brother snapped a couple of pics of us, and I turned to walk back towards the car but Andrew stopped me. He had a weird look on his face and I thought something was wrong. It took me a few seconds to understand what was happening, and once I realized I was in shock. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and all I could do was stare at him. Eventually, I somewhat got it together to hug him and try on the ring. I couldn’t talk the entire way to my brother’s house – I was seriously so surprised. We went to my brother's house and our friends and both of our families were there to celebrate, and the "tailgate" was really an engagement party! Our friends and family went above and beyond to make it special, and the room was full of pictures of Andrew and me from the past ten years. Andrew even had my dad drive down from Northern Michigan to be there to celebrate! It was so special to get engaged in the place where we met, and it’s a weekend I will never forget.