After my sister, Danielle, met her husband on the dating website Plenty of Fish, I decided to try it out too! Nate was home from his travels around the world and decided to give Plenty of Fish a chance as well. Nate sent me a message saying something like “When you say you’re from Chicago, are you talking about the actual city?”. I was used to people asking me what suburb I was from when I said I was from Chicago, so his message definitely sparked my attention! We talked about how we both grew up in Chicago (the actual city ;)), our shared love for bowling, and so much more. Our first date was at a local bowling alley in Davenport, Iowa. Nate introduced me to tequila & sprite (now our favorite drink!) and we had a great time getting to know each other!

We officially started dating on June 16, 2017. We took our first trip together on Fourth of July weekend, which was tent camping in Canada. We learned a lot about each other in the great outdoors and during the 12-hour drive each way! Fast forward to a while later - we moved into a rental house together (with my cat, Lucy!) in Davenport, Iowa. We worked through some home issues there including the basement flooding. We decided to start looking for a home to buy and ended up purchasing our first home together in 2018. In 2019, we adopted our long-haired German Shepherd, Harley! She immediately fit into our family. I think Lucy has gotten pretty used to her too. At the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, we made a big decision to move to Madison, WI! We were looking for a new adventure and decided on Madison since it offered great opportunities for our careers, is a fun city, has many beautiful parks, and is still close to our family and friends in Chicago and Iowa! I have always loved visiting my parents’ camper in Wisconsin growing up, so I was excited to see what it was like living there! We both found new positions and moved into a rental house in early 2020. It was difficult to start new jobs and move to a new city all at the beginning of COVID-19. We relied on each other and I couldn't have asked for a more supportive partner during a rough time! In July 2020, we bought our current home in a town right outside of Madison, WI called Mount Horeb. We're lucky to have such great neighbors that quickly turned into friends! We absolutely love the town and we also love having people come visit!

Nate and I both love to travel and are grateful we've had the chance to visit some amazing places together. Our first trip was camping in Canada in 2017. In 2018, we went on a camping and cycling trip in Tennessee. In 2019, Nate was traveling for work to Rome, Italy and I was able to tag along as well! We visited Costa Rica right before the pandemic in 2020. We took a trip to Boston last year. We've also taken many trips to Chicago, Iowa, Florida, and around Wisconsin to visit family and friends! We are really looking forward to our honeymoon in THAILAND!

Nate and I spent the weekend in Wisconsin Dells with Nate's family. His mom and stepdad came to visit us the next day and Nate told me that we were going to Janesville to ride on a boat that his dad had rented. I was a little suspicious, but I was along for the ride! The next morning, we put on matching Fourth of July shirts with a cat and dog that looked like Lucy and Harley on them! We drove to Janesville and Nate said we were stopping at the Rotary Botanical Gardens for a minute. We walked into the garden and my parents and Nate's dad and family were there to surprise me! He got down on one knee right in front of the koi pond (where there were plenty of fish!) and asked me to marry him. I immediately said YES! We spent some time in the garden and then we went on the boat Nate had rented. It was an amazing and very memorable day with our families!