We were next-door neighbors our senior year of college at the University of Illinois and had seen each other around the apartment building. We had each thought the other was cute, but never said anything until Cole's roommate sent a note card under Ola's front door introducing themselves, and Ola's roommate responded (a couple months later). We became fast friends for the rest of the school year, although we both started having feelings for each other. It wasn't until a few weeks after we graduated that we went on our first date, and a month after Cole moved to Alabama for work that we became official. Fast-forward through two years of long distance between Chicago and Alabama, two cats, many trips back-and-forth, and to new countries, and Cole finally moved back to Chicago in 2024. We spent a year dating in the same city, and Cole knew he wanted to propose! He popped the question at the Cliffs of Moher during a week-long trip through Ireland and England. And the original notecard that introduced us in college? We now have that framed in our home!