Long story short: Two of our best friends began conspiring to set us up in the Summer of 2015. Their plan unfolded quickly that fall, and worked out pretty well! Short story long: The true roots of this relationship can be traced back to early August 2015 when Bailey sent a screenshot of Alayna's Pizza Day instagram to his buddy saying "Yep, we would get along indeed." Meanwhile, Alayna had a little birdie chirping about this cool guy she should befriend. Sure enough, one Friday in September- when Alayna was supposed to stay in and do homework- Gamma Phi's were invited to a SigEp party... which was a rare opportunity Alayna couldn't miss out on! Soon after arriving, she spotted that cool guy, walked over & said: "You're Bailey, right? I'm supposed to meet you." The next day she messaged him on Facebook saying she looked forward to "Pizza and friendship." Bailey agreed and responded by asking her to SigEp's "Miss Rush Week Formal" just a week later, as friends. Still unclear whether Bails was alarmed or intrigued by Alayna's chaotic response to Shania Twain songs, but needless to say the night went exceptionally well. After only a couple "casual" hangouts orchestrated by the matchmakers, Bailey and Alayna started spending more time together & just the two of them. It was a whirlwind fall of study dates, pizza updates, actual dinner dates, countless long chats, parties, formals, concerts, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S bingeing. Finally, on December 10th 2015, Bailey took Alayna on a drive to look at Christmas lights. When they made it back to campus, they went for a walk around Antelope Valley Parkway. As Bailey grew visibly more nervous, they made their way around the spiral walk up, to the lookout point across from hub cafe. There, he pulled out a deck of cards and phrased one of their inside jokes to ask: "I promise I'll always try my best to 'play my cards right;' Will you be my girlfriend?" One "HECK YES!" & large pepperoni pizza upDATE-ing later, here we are!

Both Bailey and Alayna traveled back to Nebraska for the Husker game, and to see family this weekend. The Spiers crew had plans to get nice family photos shot prior to the game. True to form Bailey wanted to loosen up before pictures, and get some quality time in before a full weekend... so they stopped at Hub Cafe for cocktails first. Then, because "Blake was running late" they had time for a walk. When they went right out of Hub Cafe instead of left- Alayna had an inkling. To their right was the spot where Bailey first asked her to be his girlfriend, nearly 4 years prior. They giggled awkwardly up the spiral walk way to the Antelope Parkway Lookout where Bailey got down on one knee to propose! For the first time (maybe ever) Alayna was speechless besides "YES!" Bailey had a friend hiding nearby to take pictures- of the moment, and a few more for memories. *Shocker* there were no actual family photos (until the next day). The newly engaged couple shouted their status to a group of cyclists leaving Hub Cafe, and were met with celebratory bicycle bell rings! Afterwards, Alayna took her sweet time- none the wiser- getting the ring resized right away, and freshening up before the game. They rolled out to "Bailey's Uncle's Tailgate." Along the way, Alayna tried to call her parents and several close friends. Ignored by ALL, she was bummed but it was impossible to be sad. They made their way towards the RV lot by memorial, where Alayna hoped to stop by a friend's tailgate spot- quickly before the final destination. Well low and behold, as she's showing off her new bling to her friend- the RV door blows open and her family steps out! As she's hugging them- the absolute CLOWN CAR spills out friends, family, and FaceTime surprises left and right. Bailey had planned a whole party of peeps that piled into this RV to help celebrate the best day ever! Topped off with amazing seats at the game, a husker dog, and a runza- It was extraordinary, perfect, and so special and fun!

The weekend we got engaged, there was a tropical storm that seriously disrupted Bailey's travel plans this weekend! Originally he was supposed to fly to Nebraska on Thursday... but despite his best efforts and several trips to numerous airports in Louisiana (& Texas!) he couldn't get out due to weather. Friday, the frantic race home began by zipping him all over the country in the WEIRDEST route ever to finally land in Kansas City- close to midnight. Then his dad and brother picked him up to road trip home to Lincoln that night. Rolling up around 1:30am, Saturday, Bailey snoozed quick but was out the door again by 6:30am! Telling me he "was grabbing coffee for some quality time with his dad..." He actually ducked to meet with our Jeweler and pick up the ring, and walk through "the spot" with the photographer where he was planning to propose a few short hours later!