We first met during our sophomore year of high school. It wasn't until we ran into each other at a bowling alley on Christmas Eve of our junior year that we actually started talking. Ari had to drive to our first date because Derek was grounded from his car, and neither of us were even sure if it was a date! Derek was eventually able to drive Ari to our first official date, ice skating at Rosa Park's Circle. After this, it didn't take long for us to become best friends and partners for life. Our high school sweetheart relationship continued to grow at Central Michigan University and we keep falling in love each day!

January 11, 2019 (our five year anniversary) began as any other. We had dinner reservations at a nice restaurant and plans to go ice skating at the same place as our first date, something that had become a tradition for us. At the restaurant, Derek seemed nervous for most of dinner, especially when he finally gestured towards the little gray box that had been sitting on the table for all of dinner. Ari felt her stomach doing flips as she opened the box to find...a Pandora charm with our anniversary date engraved. Ari even teased Derek a little about how she thought he was trying to propose in a restaurant. After dinner, any thoughts of a proposal in Ari's head had dissipated. We went to Rosa Park's Circle and put on our skates. After a few times around, Derek stopped in the very center of the ice rink and dropped to one knee. Ari was shocked and in disbelief, as everyone on the ice rink stopped skating and stared on. Derek surprised Ari once again when he took her to a bar to celebrate and had both of our families waiting for us. The whole night couldn't have been more perfect and it was the easiest "yes" of her life.