We simply cannot believe we’re approaching this milestone! For all curious, our story began junior year at Indiana University when our mutual friends decided we could be a solid match. Our friends knew us well - Two individuals that simply want to have a good time and find any reason to laugh. It took great timing, a lot of luck, and a couple Hail Mary jokes from Brandon for Ashlee to stay interested. In a sea of average white dudes standing at a crisp 5’10 (with shoes) studying business at Indiana University, Brandon defied the odds and won Ashlee’s heart. We started to spend more time together during junior year when we would study at Panera Bread, take day trips to Lake Monroe, dance all night long to country music at house parties, and spend time with all our friends enjoying college life. The laughs, the new experiences, and the quality time together built the foundation of our relationship. A couple months later, we took a trip to Nashville, Tennessee with a group of our friends. At a Holiday Inn rooftop pool, Brandon leaned into Ashlee and asked, “We doing this?” Ashlee knew exactly what Brandon meant by that question, to which she replied “Let’s come back to that in the morning”. After a great night with our friends, the sober morning rolled around and we decided we were totally “going to do this” together! After graduating, we took our talents to Chicago where we have spent the majority of our relationship together. We are so thankful to have had each other to lean on while navigating Chicago city life, pushing and supporting each other in our early careers, traveling to new places, and strengthening our love together through new shared experiences. Reflecting on our relationship, it has always felt so easy to love each other. Despite growing and changing through 5 years, the honeymoon phase never left us. As another layer of support, we are infinitely lucky to have the most caring families and friends in the world cheering us on. We are beyond thankful for all of them holding us accountable to each other and celebrating our journey. On August 15th 2025, Brandon, Alexa, Rachel, and Alexis planned an epic surprise engagement back in Nashville where this story officially started. This time, Brandon asked a slightly different question than “Are we doing this”, and in that amazing moment Ashlee had a more definite answer… “YES!!!” We are unbelievably excited for the next evolution of our relationship and cannot wait to share the special day with everyone!