Our story together began when a mutual friend named Scott invited us both to a party. Neither of us knew that he had plans to introduce us that night, but nonetheless we were promptly introduced the second that Audrey walked through the door. We awkwardly bonded, made some small talk, and then humored Scott when he made us take a picture together. We wouldn't call him a professional photographer but Scott did well as a rookie Matchmaker. The night ended with Audrey giving Alex a ride home, them watching Goon on Netflix, and eating his roommate's Taquitos. A solid start, if we do say so ourselves!

Audrey asked Alex if he wanted to go on a tour of Trail Point Brewery in Allendale, MI as an outing with microbiology club. We made it a group date, begging Scott and his girlfriend (Now wife!) Madison to come. Now, Alex always likes to joke that he has the most unique first date story because "she showed me a dead body!". This is technicallyyy true, but let's clarify! Audrey was working as a tutor for the cadaver lab at school and Alex wasn't going to make her walk out into a dark parking lot at night looking for his car. So, we made plans for him to pick Audrey up from the cadaver lab. Audrey decided to test him (you know, see if he could hang) and showed him one of the donor specimens. He passed the test and was rewarded with all of Audrey's beer samples from the brewery, since she doesn't like beer anyway. Some would say that's a match made in Heaven!

We can't believe how much life we have tackled together already and how much we have grown as partners throughout it all. Audrey graduated from GVSU in 2017 and Alex graduated in 2018, so we had some time to enjoy getting to know each other while we studied and worked. After Alex graduated, he found a job that made him move to Ohio (of all the places?!?). We had to navigate long distance, with Alex making the 5 hour drive to Grand Rapids every few weeks. This really challenged our communication skills but distance did indeed make the heart grow fonder. Audrey was accepted into PA school in Massachusetts and together, we decided to move to Worcester, MA in August 2019 and live together for the first time. We were super done with the long distance thing! We bet you can guess what came next! Yup, a whole pandemic, and with it, lockdown and quarantine. It's one thing to move in with your significant other but a totally different thing to spend 24/7 together with limited capabilities of seeing friends and family. Almost sounds like one of those tv dating shows that Audrey is obsessed with! Lucky for us, there was no one else we would rather quarantine with. Even with the stress of school and work from home, we grew closer and stronger. Not only did it became easy to imagine a life together, but impossible to imagine building our lives with any one else. We have spent the years making so many memories together. Moving from place to place, traveling to visit friends and family, trying new foods, climbing actual mountains in NH, swimming in oceans, finding the best ice cream, road trips to Colorado, and spoiling our two cats (we have to mention Ashley and Tikka!). We have started and left jobs, graduated from school, lost loved ones, and celebrated new members of the family. It's crazy to think that we have experienced so many phases and trials of life together, but having the other one there has made each low moment more bearable and each positive moment happier!

Well, well, well! We had obviously been discussing getting married and our future together for a while. Before PA school, Audrey told Alex that she didn't want to get engaged until after graduation, since she wanted to focus on school and that would be impossible if she would gladly procrastinate studying by planning a wedding instead. So...we waited! We went ring shopping together and Alex started to make some mental plans...and some purchases. This brings us to graduation day! We had been planning for months for our parents to finally meet for the first time, and could think of no better opportunity than to invite both to Audrey's graduation ceremony. Both sets of parents were extremely supportive and encouraging throughout the years, and we wanted to celebrate all together. After the graduation ceremony, we walked to a nearby park to take some pictures away from the big crowd of people. This is a park that we had frequently gone for walks at during quarantine to get some fresh air, and it was nice to be back. During the very first photo that Mr. Glenn was taking of us, Alex starts talking. Audrey is confused because he is supposed to be smiling for the picture. But soon, Alex was down on one knee and asking the big question. Our parents were all very surprised because Alex hadn't told anyone (actually, he had specifically denied that it was going to happen), so they almost missed the moment. But Mr. Glenn quickly snapped a few pictures, caught a video, and we all celebrated together. We were officially engaged less than an hour after graduation!

We will celebrate our marriage with you next year, just 2 days after our 6th dating anniversary! We are looking forward to sharing this special day with our friends and family, as well as starting this next chapter of our lives together.