It was the best of times and... 2020. We met because of the University of Michigan (even though Brendon will still to this day never admit it). We began our journey over Thursday night zoom dates - the first lasting 3 hours longer than expected. Our first time meeting in person wasn't until 7 zoom dates later and an 800 mile trip from Kansas to Lansing, MI. We spent hours connecting over food, took a cold walk through Michigan State’s campus, and played several rounds of Clue late into the night. Brendon had over an hour drive home and Leah had plans to leave for Kansas the following morning. The next day, Leah’s plans to return home were interrupted by a surprising knock at the door: Brendon with a personal delivery of hot breakfast. What was planned as a travel day turned into a second date and the official beginning of our relationship. We had a blast walking around Barnes & Noble, grabbed drinks at our now favorite coffee spot Blue Owl, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying delicious pizza, competitive games of UNO, and wonderful conversations. This day and these spots were the inspiration behind Brendon’s brilliantly planned proposal almost two years later. In our less than 3 years of knowing each other we have a majority of the time lived in different states and time zones. Brendon has flown to Kansas over 15 times. While Leah, who purchased her car in December of 2020, has clocked over 105,000 miles. We never made a long distance relationship an excuse to not see each other. We both made every effort to be with each other even if that meant seeing one another for only 24 hours. We met during a pandemic, navigated several Michigan lockdowns and curfews, found the humor in delayed flights/canceled flights/missed connecting flights, maxed out our PTO, traveled to 12 different states, and are excited to embark on this next chapter of our lives finally together! Even in times like these, our relationship has been overflowing with joy, endless laughter, comfort, love, peace, excitement, and beauty. We thank you all for being a part of our lives and look forward to sharing this wonderful moment with you!