When Ashleigh graduated Nurse Practitioner school in September of 2017, she was certain of two things; One, that she wanted to work in a hospital and two, that she wanted to be close enough to spend time with her family in Lyons. She applied to every hospital within a two hour radius and received her first interview at Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital In Jackson, Michigan. During that interview with the hospitalist team the director had asked where she saw herself in 5 years. Jokingly, she responded that she hoped to be married and that it also would be nice to be living on one of these lakes around here. Ashleigh got the job, and the next summer bought a house on Devils Lake. Fast forward to January 2020, Ashleigh decided she need a change. Her work schedule had too many variables and she wanted a schedule that would give her more of a routine. She got a job at a geriatric clinic in Jackson and went part time at the hospital. That same month, she was asked to precept a physician assistant student from Central Michigan University, His name was Darek Cooper. Ashleigh agreed but wasn’t sure how it was going to work given her new part time status. Darek was in the midst of his Physician Assistant clinical rotations and had been juggling Physician Assistant school and being an officer in the Army National Guard. His psych rotation had fallen through so they decided to bump up his Internal Medicine rotation. His original Internal Medicine rotation preceptor also could not take him on so the program manager had arranged for him to get his hours with Ashleigh, and two other Nurse Practitioners. Darek and Ashleigh met January 18th, 2020. That weekend they spent two 12 hour shifts together and had a really fun time. Darek had actually been a Tech at Henry Ford Allegiance in the emergency department around the same time Ashleigh started in 2017 but their paths had never crossed. They both knew there was a special connection as they had so much in common. Ashleigh even told her family about Darek (see pic below). Due to Ashleigh’s new part time status, they only spent one more day together in early February and at the end of that day they wished each other well. They remained acquaintances and would text regularly but they both had to discern their own relationships. The covid pandemic hit in March 2020, putting Darek’s clinical rotations on hold and throwing Ashleigh onto the front lines. She returned full time to the Hospital in April 2020. The pandemic provided enough time for them both to really think and pray about the future. In time both of them coming to the conclusions that neither of them were happy in their current relationships. Darek and Ashleigh had their first date around June 2020 and the rest is History. On their third date, Darek took her up to their Family Cabin in Northern Michigan and they fell in love. Darek finished Physician Assisstant school that fall and also got a Job as a Hospitalist Provider working at Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital. He started working in July 2021 and he proposed to Ashleigh on Christmas Eve of 2021.