Buckle up ladies, gents, and non binary friends you are in for a weird and crazy ride. It all happened one day when both Carrie and McKenna decided to play an online version of the TV show Survivor. Crazy right? Who does that? Well these nerds do! They were cast on the same season but unfortunately never got to meet during the game. It wasn't until the smoke cleared that they formed a friendship. McKenna would find any excuse to text Carrie in the hope of sparking a conversation, while Carrie was still coming to terms with the fact that McKenna isn't a total narcissist. I mean, who posts a selfie of themselves for 30 consecutive days during their birthday month? But as the days turned into months, Carrie and McKenna became an inseparable duo from late night phone calls to finding any moment to step away and have a FaceTime. Slowly but surely, McKenna cracked Carrie's shell and they began dating long distance. Trying to start a relationship 3 thousand miles away from each other was tough, but with every challenge and hiccup came a new adventure. Carrie would come to visit McKenna and her family in New York, they vacationed in Hawaii, and they visited mutual friends. Lastly McKenna was put to the true test - meeting Millie. Once McKenna offered Millie her first slice of "hand cheese" (a slice of cheese meant for a snack for a person, but with the ulterior motive of sharing with the dog), and after dating long distance, they closed the gap and Carrie and Millie moved across the country to New York in August of 2022.

Carrie had two stipulations before getting engaged. 1. Finish my dissertation and graduate 2. Meet my people In May of 2023, Carrie graduated with her Ph.D. and McKenna met Carrie's people. This gave McKenna the green light, and she immediately started planning the proposal. A few conversations had arisen from people in their survivor community of wanting to meet up in Seattle, which gave McKenna the perfect cover. The trip was planned in June for the upcoming October, and then McKenna went to work on planning a surprise engagement. In August, while Carrie was away, McKenna and her Maid of Honor, Kayla, found the perfect ring and hid it in McKenna's mom's closet. In September, while Carrie was away again, McKenna and the Seattle travel group got on a zoom call and made the plan. The engagement photo shoot would be disguised as "We have no good photos together!" Sarah, our photographer friend, offered to take the photos; Lydia offered to embroider a special shadow box as a prop for the engagement; Lex made survivor style engagement parchments; and Austin FaceTimed McKenna's mom during the big moment. As McKenna was packing for the big trip her anxiety was at an all time high! Does the ring go in the suitcase? What if it gets lost? Does it go in the backpack? What if Carrie looks through the backpack? What if TSA asks to search the backpack? Does McKenna propose right there in the airport in the security line???? (This was literally a Plan B). Carrie, McKenna, and the ring arrived safely in Seattle, and immediately upon entering the Air BnB, McKenna put the ring in Austin's room away from Carrie's eyes. Sarah came over and asked to see the house under the guise of intercepting the ring to remove it from the house. Several times throughout the trip, Carrie was adamant about hearing every couple's proposal story, which caused McKenna to black out in a cold sweat. Ultimately the proposal went off without a hitch, and Carrie was so surprised she hollered and ran backward in shock. Carrie really had no idea and somehow missed all the signs.