I was at my friend’s house party one night. As the party was coming to an end, I realized the person who drove me had left and I had no way of getting back to my car. A guy that had been downstairs the entire party came upstairs and asked if anyone needed a ride. I realized I had no other way of getting home, so I asked if I could have one. He didn’t think twice about it, and walked me to his car. When we got in the car, he introduced himself, “I’m Alec, but you can call me Al”. During the drive, I remembered that my friend and I had told our parents we were staying at each other’s houses. There was no way I could go into my friend’s house without her, so I asked Al if his parents would care if I stayed at his house. He laughed and told me he lived alone, and that I was welcome to stay. When we arrived at his place, he made up the futon for me to sleep on and he slept on a tiny loveseat (when he totally could’ve slept in his bed). We stayed up the entire night talking, and the rest is history!

On our fifth anniversary, Alec took me to our local Mexican restaurant in Dell Rapids. During the dinner we reminisced about the life we built together, and discussed our future (with lots of happy tears!). After our meal, we walked back to our car and Alec pointed to our old apartment, where everything began. We talked about how far we’ve come and how lucky we are to have one another. As we arrived to our car that was parked in front of our first apartment, I attempted to get in but it was locked. I turned around to ask Al to unlock it, but he was on one knee! He had my sister BrookLin behind the scenes with a camera, which meant a lot to me that she was there. I of course, said “YES!!” and we were engaged. We’re so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in June!