We are so excited to celebrate with you!

We met at a conference called "Cru Winter Conference", through the college ministry that we were a part of while attending the University of Minnesota Duluth. Originally, Jaclyn and her bridesmaid Kailee had no interest in meeting Brad, as they actually wanted to meet his friend, Kelsey, to be friends with him instead. Brad was in the right place at the right time, as Jaclyn found herself talking to Brad. As the conference continued, Brad and Jaclyn found themselves hanging out with the same group of people, and surprise, found themselves right next to each other. Brad knew he liked Jaclyn at a very weird time, as it was when she was on the verge of throwing up in a church pew during an outreach. He made his move the next day by buying her a coffee and bagel, but she paid him back against his will. Jaclyn did not realize Brad was making a move. While our group was on their way back from Caribou, Jaclyn's bridesmaid Kailee pulled Jaclyn aside and asked, "Do you like Brad?". It was at this moment that Jaclyn thought she might have a crush on Brad, I mean, who wouldn't. On the last night of the conference, Jaclyn decided to make a move by asking Brad to take a picture of her and Kailee on his phone so that she could get his phone number. She put her number in Brad's phone and Brad had no idea that this was a move. We have no idea how we ended up dating with neither of us realizing we were into one another.

What a hot mess: 1) Brad had to confirm that he was picking up Jaclyn. 2) Brad did not walk to the door to pick Jaclyn up. 3) Brad did not pay for dinner. 4) Brad did not walk Jaclyn to her door after the date. As a result, Jaclyn panicked and called Kailee, worried because she did not think it was a date and that Brad did not like her, as she REALLY liked Brad. However, the conversations in between saved Brad's bee-hind and it led to many more dates.

It was the night before Jaclyn's thesis presentation. Brad had just picked up the big ol' diamond ring that he had bought for her. He FaceTimed his best man, Josh, and they decided that Brad was going to propose the next day. The next day, we went out to a celebratory brunch at Uncle Loui's for Jaclyn finishing her thesis. Little did Jaclyn know, Brad was stalling for Josh to come up to Duluth from the Cities to take pictures for the proposal. After brunch, Jaclyn and Brad went to their favorite park in Duluth, Chester Park, to go on a hike. Brad had to take a nervous pee in the woods and fell in the snow while doing so, and Jaclyn thought that was really weird. Then, they started to walk to the bridge at the beginning of the trail. Brad did not know how to stop Jaclyn on the bridge, so he went down on his knee to "clean snow out of his boot". Jaclyn looked at Brad and said, "Oh Brad, you're getting down on one knee". Brad then asked, "What do you think I'm going to do, propose or something?" and Jaclyn responded, "No, you would never do that". She then started to walk away and Brad said, "Jaclyn, look!" The rest was history.