It was the summer of 2017, and looking to make more friends, we both joined a beer volleyball league with our respective roommates. When Chel arrived, Matt was at the check-in table. She noticed his smile right away and thought he was pretty cute. Little did we know, but our matching purple shirts would be the first step in our life together. At the end of the game, our team decided to grab a drink together. After just one beer, Matt said he had to meet a friend in downtown Ann Arbor. Not wanting the night to end (and secretly wanting more time to get to know Matt), Chel suggested the team join Matt and his friend. Well, what Matt didn't mention was his meet-up with this friend was actually a date, and the team was now 7th wheeling it… oops! Let's just say the date didn't go great… and Matt and Chel ended up talking for most of the time. Over the following weeks, we slowly got to know each other over weekly games and team meet-ups until Matt finally had the guts to kiss Chel. We had our first date the next week, and in true beer league sports fashion, we met up for drinks. Matt distinctly remembers Chel looking at the menu at the cocktail bar with apprehension and finally ordering a vodka cran. She thought it was silly to waste so much money on a drink. By the third date, Matt was desperate to get the approval of Chelsea’s friends, so he organized a Halloween fright night. We went from haunted house to party after party. On the way home, while everyone else was asleep in the back of the car, we jammed to music and talked the whole ride home. The following day, we officially started dating! Our relationship progressed quickly over the next few months, and by the end of the year, we knew that this was the person we were meant to spend the rest of our lives with!

When it came time to actually propose, I was nervous as hell. I had bought the ring and was hopeful that she would say yes, but wanted the moment to be special. I came up with my perfect plan. I determined I needed to do it over our upcoming vacation to the Caribbean. I was going to propose, on our first day, near these beautiful botanical gardens and even hire a photographer in hopes of capturing our perfect moment. However, nothing went according to plan… That night we arrived, and Chel got super sick with food poisoning (yes, it was my fault, and now am currently enrolled in cooking classes, haha!) I was so anxious that every time Chel woke to go to the restroom, I asked, “you're feeling better now, Right”!?! And, of course, she wasn’t. I don’t know if Chelsea just got tired of my constant checking in or actually did feel better. Still, she decided we could go out that following afternoon. I quickly scrambled to put my plan into action. I finally got down on one knee, hands shaking like a kid after his 7th cup of coffee. Luckily for anxiety, I only had to ask twice before she remembered she needed to say yes. In hindsight, this chaotic proposal was the perfect moment because it highlights part of our relationship’s beauty- our ability to embrace the present and laugh at life’s imperfectness.