Alex and Maddie met in late July of 2016, when Maddie started her first year of teaching at Anthem Prep. They started by exchanging hellos in the hallways, holding conversations in the faculty office and chatting at social functions hosted by the school. Early on in their teaching, long before they'd ever been on an official date, students were already whispering about a potential romance. Only one (you know who you are) was brave enough to actually raise a hand in class with the question - "Ms. Armer, are you dating Mr. Curry?" Maddie responded with an easy, "Of course not! Have you seen the ridiculous outfits he wears?!" but the seed was planted and it wasn't long before the two actually were dating, after all! Take note that when a student asked the same question in math class, Mr. Curry sent them straight to the office. Yikes! Maddie and Alex went on their first date in the summer of 2017, and the rest is history.

Maddie was very sure that there was no way that Alex could surprise her with a proposal. She would know to expect something that spectacular. There would be obvious signs - a mysterious shopping trip with his mom? a fancy date night? a brunch with their friends or family? a picnic with a photographer hiding behind a tree? She knew all the tricks, and there certainly was no way that Alex would be able to hide a ring for days (or, as it turned out, months) without her knowledge. Unfortunately, she mentioned this conviction to Alex. "I'll know when you're planning to propose - there's no way you can surprise me!" Never one to back down from a challenge, Alex decided to truly make the proposal a surprise. Despite Maddie's confidence in her amateur sleuthing abilities, Alex managed to be really sneaky and catch her unawares. On Halloween night, Maddie had been waiting for hours hoping for trick-or-treaters. She'd put out a sign to welcome them to her doorstep and even purchased a Costco-sized bag of chocolates (the good stuff!). However on this night, a middle-of-the-week Wednesday school night, no kids came by to trick-or-treat. Just as she was getting ready to give up and turn off the front porch light, she heard a knock on the door. Alex knew that she was sad about missing out, and decided to be her (very special) trick-or-treater. When he knocked on the door and asked for candy, Maddie of course said no - he wasn't even in costume! When he really insisted, she turned around to get the bowl of candy from the entryway - and when she turned back around he was down on one knee. She promptly dropped the candy bowl, forgot to say "yes," and started crying. So, yes, Alex won the challenge.