Before their first conversation, Libby had already noticed Dallas at their dorm hall’s orientation meeting—he’d caught her eye, though she had no social media to satisfy her curiosity about the cutie from down the hall. Little did she know, God noticed, and planned to use a cheesy movie to bring them together. Dallas first spotted her not by seeing her, but by hearing his favorite movie (it was Moana by the way) playing through her dorm room door. A few days later, when he finally caught her door open, he worked up the courage to ask if she’d been the one watching the movie. Libby laughed and replied, “No... that was probably my stupid roommate watching it on MY Netflix account!” While it wasn’t the romantic first encounter either of them imagined from their other half, that moment of shared laughter sparked something special. Like any relationship, they had their highs and lows—but through it all, they came out stronger. Their journey through college brought many firsts, including adopting their cat, Wi Wi, during their final semester at St. Norbert College. After graduating together in 2022, they took their next big step: moving in together. Shortly after, they adopted their second cat, Poo Poo. During their time together in the apartment in Bellevue, Dallas devoted himself to pursuing his dreams of graduate school in philosophy at Western Michigan University. When he was accepted, they faced their biggest decision yet: stay close to family and friends in Bellevue, or take a leap of faith together? With fingers crossed and trust in each other, they chose adventure—packing up their lives and moving to Michigan to start their next chapter. After the move, and just five years after their chance encounter, Dallas had a plan that would turn a finish line into a new beginning. While training for and running the 2024 Kalamazoo Marathon (his first ever!), whenever doubt crept in, he found strength in thinking about Libby waiting at the finish line—completely unaware that he was about to ask the biggest question of their lives. Just as their relationship has always been a source of inspiration and motivation throughout his academic pursuits, it pushed him through every mile toward this life-changing moment. Libby had her suspicions about the impending question—that didn’t stop her from sporting the biggest smile of her life when he (finally) asked!