We met through our wonderful friends, Brogan and Jake McSorley. Brogan and Cara were living together in Eau Claire, WI above Pizza Plus at the time and Jake was always hanging out at their apartment because he had a not-so-secret crush on Brogan (they are now married and expecting their first little!). It was a Friday night and Jake asked if one of his friends, "Tubzy" could come over before everyone headed out for the evening. The night ended with dancing at Scooters so it was clearly a good time. Travis was in town from Madison for a friends wedding and after realizing that we had a lot in common, we ended up hanging out for the entirety of the weekend - he came and found Cara after the wedding. Even though we grew up in the same home town, with quite a few mutual friends we had never formally met until this day!
As many of you know Travis and I love to travel. Prior to many of our trips I had gotten the question - "do you think he is going to propose?". We had always openly discussed marriage but I never felt that he was going to propose until we went on a trip to Colombia in October of 2019. The trip took place over our 5th dating anniversary and for some reason it felt different - there were no real signs or standout things to make me feel this way, but I had a slight feeling that I kept trying to push aside so as not to get my hopes up. While we were in Colombia we stayed in an Eco Lodge 3 hours south of Medellin in the Jungle, called Rio Claro. It was remote, and so beautiful! The rooms were open air with no walls, just mosquito nets and curtains, so you felt like you were in a treehouse with birds flying in and all around. There were all sorts of activities to do like; rafting, swimming, hiking, zip lining, caving, and bird watching. We had no reception or WIFI there so it was truly a get-a-way. The first night we were getting ready for dinner after a day of exploration and swimming and it was just the two of us in our beautiful room. My back was to Travis and he just said my name out of the blue, I turned and he was on one knee. A bunch of words followed that honestly neither of us remember. It was so nice because it was intimate and we got to revel in the moments of being engaged for a few days before reaching out to friends and family due to us having no service. It was romantic and everything I never knew that I wanted in a proposal! Fun fact: our tour guide in Medellin was the first person that we told - he asked us out of everyone in the group what our "deal" was and we had to tell him - "you mean I know before your mother?!". Haha Don't worry we FaceTimed our families shortly afterwards.
Met in September of 2014 In Eau Claire, WI. Went on our first trip together in January of 2015 to Fort Lauderdale, The Keys and Miami, Florida and stayed with Cara's Cousin LoAnn while there. Dated Long Distance until Cara moved to Madison in August of 2015 - we got our first apartment together. Cara started working at Arch in Madison while also taking classes at MATC and working a few other jobs. Cara got promoted to wedding coordinator at Arch Madison. Continued to travel as much as we could. April 2018 Travis got a job offer with Hilti in Milwaukee and took it! Travis spent the month of June in Tulsa, Oklahoma training for his new role. Cara was offered a manager position for the soon to be Arch in Milwaukee! Cara and Travis moved to the Bayview neighborhood in Milwaukee July of 2018 - with some commuting between Madison and Milwaukee at the beginning for both of them. Cara helped open the Arch Milwaukee store in November of 2018. More traveling in there. Travis proposed to Cara October of 2019 in the Colombian Jungle. Less Travel due to a global pandemic. November 14th 2020 Cara and Travis got a wonderful new addition to the family - a black pug puppy named Vernon! October 9th, 2021 - Officially tying the knot!