Chris & Steph met on a Monday night out at Kilroy's on Kirkwood during their senior year at IU. Seated at adjacent tables, the two eventually struck up a conversation and realized they had taken a few Art History courses together the past couple of years. She was the cute girl that wrote bluebook tests in cursive, and he was the know-it-all who skipped class probably too much. He sent a text, and in 8 years, she never stopped replying.

After a few blissful weeks, a reality check -- Steph found out she was accepted to grad school in the UK, a year long program that would put the Atlantic between the new couple. Rather than spend her last US summer back home in Naperville, Steph stayed in Bloomington and the two continued to make memories: cones at the Chocolate Moose, discounted lamb burgers from Chris's job at Topo's, and long conversations about their future to come. Those 371 days weren't easy, but the two navigated time differences and competing schedules to continue to grow together. When Chris was placed in Atlanta after his graduation, he forged ahead, securing an apartment and building the foundation of a new life in a place they had never seen. Eventually Steph graduated with distinction and joined him, and Georgia has never been the same since!

The week of September 20th, 2019 Chris had planned one of their 'Secret Dates', a tradition that among other things had taken them to Destin, FL in a rented Corvette, and an Iron and Wine concert at Buckhead Theater. Friday rolled around and Chris bailed Steph out of work mid-day so they could head to the mountains and the city of Asheville for their weekend getaway. After checking into their rental, the two walked around one of their favorite places, enjoying dinner and a few pints at the incredible breweries there. When they returned to the Airbnb for the evening, Chris immediately started digging around in his hiking backpack. Before Steph could get the words out to ask what he was looking for, he turned around on one knee and presented her with the ring! “I was going to do this on our hike tomorrow morning, but I’ve had so much fun with you tonight and I couldn’t wait another second to ask you; will you marry me?” Steph was completely taken by surprise, but excitedly responded “YES!”. And with a rush of excited energy, the two headed back out for a night of celebration.