One night in Summer of '22, Danielle decided to meet out a group of her soccer friends at a bar in Downtown Cleveland's Flats called Dantes. While Danielle was sitting outside at one of the tables, Matthew walked by and noticed his friends from college sitting with Danielle. Matthew decided to go into the bar to catch up with them and ended up sitting in the same booth as Danielle. At some point, soccer was brought up, and Danielle - who was always on the hunt for new players for her rec team - was told that Matthew played goalie. So, naturally, her first words to him were something along the lines of "you play soccer? we need a new goalie." Completely serious about only needing him to play goalie, Danielle got Matthew's number for that purpose and was confused why Matthew needed her number as well. (Matthew had more in his mind than just being a goalie).

From then on, the two would text on and off. Occasionally, Danielle would forget to text Matthew back, and Matthew would wonder if she hated him (she didn't, it was just the ADHD). Eventually, Matthew attempted to ask Danielle out on a "date" which included golf lessons before soccer, but Danielle dismissed this first attempt at a date. After a few weeks of playing soccer together, the two ended up going tailgating together for the Browns game and then going to the bars with a group of friends afterwards to watch a Guardians play off game. After spending almost a full day together, Danielle warmed up to the idea of going on a date, and grew impatient that Matthew had not asked her on a date a second time. She so subtly asked "so when are we going on that date" after the Guards game. Their first date was at Luca. The most memorable part about it was the fact that Danielle spilled some sort of sauce on her shirt (of course), and the fact that the waiter brought the dessert menus out while Danielle was in the bathroom, so when Danielle sat down at the table, it looked like there were two separate bills on the table... but eventually it was figured out that Matthew did not split the check on the first date.

A month later, Matthew officially asked Danielle to be his girlfriend with some flowers and her favorite candy. Then it became official, Pongo had a father. After months of Matthew staying at Danielle's apartment on and off, the two decided that it would make more sense if they just moved in together, and so they did in July of 2023. While it was convenient to live in Downtown Cleveland for fun and for work, it was not so convenient when it came to seeing family.

Matthew spent most of his free time on Zillow looking at houses and dreaming of a home that was more than 1000 square feet. One day (while Danielle was at a friend's bachelorette party), Matthew sent her a house on Zillow that was everything they wanted and more. Somehow, they managed to get preapproved and schedule a tour while Danielle was halfway across the country. Once they toured the home, they knew it would be their forever home. Danielle, Matthew, and Pongo, moved into their dream home in October of 2024. So, they had the house and they had the dog, one thing was missing from this little family -- the ring.

In December of 2024, Danielle planned a Christmas get together with all of their friends. The dress code was ugly sweater, so naturally Danielle was suspicious when Matthew asked for a "nice photo" in front of the stair case before the party. That nice photo was Matthew's cover to ask Danielle to marry him, and she responded with a resounding, "cool!"