We're getting married!

We met on a dating app in August of 2021. Ellen was living in Petoskey and Clayton in Gladstone. After talking for a few weeks it was time to meet (in person) for a date. (To see if each other were real!) Clayton was traveling on his way back from a camping trip and they met in Petoskey for dinner...

After consideration of many restaurants to fit our tastes (some pickier than others), we landed on a BBQ place in Petoskey. Our first date was at Up in Smoke BBQ (now closed). We talked so comfortably the whole date and continued to connect in person as we did through text.

Ellen made the venture 3 hours north to visit Clayton in Gladstone. She knew from the first time meeting Mya (she didn't particularly like Ellen) that she would have to work to gain her trust. When getting out of the car at Clayton's, Ellen gave Mya half of a chicken tender. This is where Mya sort of started to trust her. This is also the first time Ellen met some of Clayton's friends in the UP.

Clayton and Ellen were in Petoskey for Halloween Weekend and walking downtown to a Halloween Party. Ellen was dressed as a skeleton and Clayton had a leaf tied to a string on his hat because he... was a leaf blower. On their walk downtown, Ellen asked in so many words, "Are we dating?" And Clayton agreed that they were dating. This marked the official dating anniversary.

Clayton and Ellen had just left celebrating Christmas at Ellen's parents' house with Huck and Mya in tow from Livonia and Clayton asked, "Do you want your present now?" Unsuspectingly, Ellen says "sure, if you want!" He gestures toward the center console in his truck and says it's in there. Ellen opened the center console, had to dig beyond the clutter to find a box. She opens it to find the most beautiful ring and exclaims "What!" He asks if she likes it. She says, "Well aren't you going to ask me?!" Clayton then asks if she will marry him. The answer was "Yes!"