We met on Tinder. Yes, the online dating app. We eventually agreed to meet and had our first date at Burgatory in Monroeville. The food was DELICIOUS and Steph and Rob were very nervous. Steph showed her nerves by being awkwardly quiet and Rob showed his nerves by nonstop talking about Doom (the video game).

A few months before Robert officially asked Stephanie the big question, he asked her while they were relaxing together in the sunshine listening to music and talking about their futures. "Would you marry me if I asked you to?" he asked her. Always super emotional, tears immediately welled up in Stephanie's eyes. Was he asking her this for real? Like actually considering spending their lives together? "Of course I would" she managed to choke out between happy tears. That was the conversation that bloomed the next stage in their relationship. Stephanie knew an official proposal was coming, but was not sure of when. They would share pictures of rings together and got their ring fingers measured. They discussed even more plans for the future, and it all was very beautiful and bright

On June 22nd, 2023, Robert and Stephanie just arrived at his cousin Braden's house for a weekend away. "Since the weather is supposed to hold up today, we should go to Cooper's Rock," Rob suggested. Braden already knew of the plan unfolding, so he agreed. Stephanie put on some walking shoes and they were off to look at the beautiful views of Cooper's Rock. Stephanie knew Robert was going to be proposing soon, but she wasn't sure if it was going to be today. It was his birthday, after all. He wouldn't propose on his birthday, would he? She started to get very nervous but also very excited, she could hardly believe this could be happening. "Why did I not style my hair nicely before we left?" "Why did I choose to put on these ugly socks that you can totally see in pictures?" These questions and more were all circling around in her head as they made their way to Cooper's Rock. The same could be said for Robert. "Oops, I forgot to wear my vans instead of my Crocs." "Will I be able to remember what I want to say? What if I mess up?" Little did they both know, they could have both showed up wearing garbage bags and the ring could have been a ring pop. They both wouldn't have noticed at all. All that mattered to them was beginning the rest of their lives together. After the short walk to the scenic overlook, they were all taken aback by the beauty before them. You could see miles and miles of beautiful green forest. Stephanie was afraid to go to the very edge of the railing, but she got stunning views nonetheless. She was getting very antsy, was he going to pop the question now? Was he really going to do this today? There were a couple of times Steph thought he was setting the scene to ask her before he truly did. First, he asked her to come down to the railing so she could get a better look at the scenery. He helped her down and Braden stayed behind. "OHHHH MY GOD THIS IS IT!!!!" Stephanie thought. But it was not, in fact, it. Then there was a time Rob walked over to where she was standing and put his arm around her. They were talking about how beautiful the view was and how happy they were that they ventured out there to see it. "This absolutely has to be the moment now. I can't believe THIS IS HAPPENING!!" Steph thought to herself. But alas, nothing happened again. "Maybe he's not proposing today after all?" She thought, slightly relieved and slightly disappointed all at the same time. "You two should turn around and smile for a picture" Braden suddenly said. Steph thought that a picture of them together here would be beautiful, so she spun around and leaned into Rob for a picture. Braden was snapping away when suddenly, Rob's arm disappeared from around Steph. She looked over, and he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand.

A few weeks after proposal number two, Steph decided that it would only be fair for her to ask Rob if he wanted to marry her too. He should be asked too! Plus, he deserved to have his own ring as well. She found a ring that matched the one Rob gave her, but more in his style. It was delivered and she hid it away while she made plans on how to propose back to Rob. It would have to be in a fun way, to match his personality. The perfect idea came to her one day. She would make a game out of it. She'd remembered seeing a video of people playing the Hearing Things game earlier in the week. For those who are unfamiliar with Hearing Things, one player puts on noise-canceling headphones and listens to music while the other player tries to get them to guess what they're saying. Rob would listen to music while Steph would pop the question for him. They went down to Steph's parents' house so she could have someone recording while it all happened. Rob went first and had Steph guess a phrase, then it was his turn. He put on his headphones, turned the music on, and was ready to guess her phrase. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" Steph said a little too loud. The whole point is to have it be a struggle for Rob, but she was just too excited in the moment to remember those kinds of details. "HUH??? WILL? YOU?" Rob responded back "MARRY. ME." Steph said, again very much too loud to make it a guessing game. "Marry me? Will you marry me?" Rob confirmed the phrase It was now Steph's turn to get down on one knee and ask Rob the same thing he asked her.