This love story begins when Brenden is introduced to Lilly’s friend group because he is new to Wausau West. Brenden initially started talking to one of the girls in the group who was not Lilly. However, he soon realized he liked Lilly more than the other girl. After getting to know each other more during the week of homecoming, Brenden and Lilly came to the conclusion that they would attend the event together. Little did Lilly know, that Brenden's family did not allow him to attend school dances, so he secretly went against his parents' wishes to attend the dance. Although they eventually parted ways when Brenden moved to Appleton about a month later, their story did not end there. The two continued to communicate sporadically between their other relationships. Then, on January 1st, 2024, Brenden added Lilly back on all social media platforms, which led them to our reader's current and favorite love story. The second first date was January 11th when Brenden took Lilly to the new fancy rooftop restaurant in Wausau, The Velveteen Plum. They ended up seated at one of the worst tables, which was only knee height. Then despite not liking salads, Brenden ordered one due to heavy nerves weighing on his stomach, and they both laughed the whole time. Afterward, they got Crumbl cookies, which they then took back to Brenden's apartment where his three roommates were playing video games. They were excited to meet Lilly, as Brenden had been talking about her for at least a week. By March, Lilly was staying with Brenden every night but then she couldn't bear to stay in house with four boys any longer. By May 10th, they got an apartment in Wausau, right on Grand Ave where Lilly's grandma used to live. Brenden got to meet most of Lilly's out-of-town family at the beginning of June. He even swam across the lake in freezing temperatures for Lilly because that is what her great-grandmother did every day. This is when Lilly knew that Brenden was the one that she loved because he put his fears of the lake aside and didn't care about the temperature. That was also the moment that Brenden knew he loved her because earlier that day Brenden was saying to Lilly that he refused to jump in a freezing cold lake, not to mention, Brenden isn't a very strong swimmer. He has a fear of what the eye can't see under him. He then realized that he wanted to swim across the lake not only for Lilly but also her great-grandmother. Throughout the summer, Brenden witnessed Lilly's love for waterskiing, and they drove up to Minocqua at least three times a week, if not more. This brings us to when Brenden proposed to Lilly on Lake Minocqua on August 10th, 2024. Our story has spanned five years, but it's our favorite, and we can’t wait to tie the knot with everyone who means the most to us and has helped us through our journey.