It all started at a CrossFit BBQ on a Friday night in February. Caity and Matthew had met briefly before and even flirted at a event a few months prior. Nothing was pursued at that time because Caity had been told by a friend that Matthew was seeing someone. Earlier on that week, Matthew, with encouragement from his roommate Anna, had done a Chinese "wish paper". He wrote everything he wanted in a partner on the paper, and then lit it on fire to make the wish come true. Ironically, one of the things he wrote was he wished to be pursued by a girl. So on this Friday night in February, both Caity and Matthew had worked out and were quite sweaty and not necessarily looking ready to meet their "person". While everyone was mingling, eating, and drinking, Caity and a friend, Ariell, finalized plans to watch the Super Bowl at a brewery that weekend. As the BBQ kept going, Caity and Matthew started flirting and she decided to invite him to watch the Super Bowl. Matthew infamously remembers these words as "Hey, you wanna hang out with me and drink beer and watch football?" Caity vividly remembers his head nodding yes with his mouth wide open. It's safe to say they hit it off at the Super Bowl watch party that weekend!

Mid-Spring, Caity received a text while at work that simply said "Hi! Have a great day!" with a photo attached. That photo was a screenshot of an order receipt for THE ring. Caity was surprised, and then began the guessing game of when Matthew would pop the question. Caity (and friends) guessed that it would be before or after their big Europe trip. Matthew's only hope was to catch Caity off guard. So, on July 3rd, right before their trip and after a sweaty, sweaty workout at Seatown CrossFit, Matthew asked Caity to open a birthday card. She fussed, saying she wanted to open it on her actual birthday, not before. Matthew persisted, even baiting her with a Brown Bear car wash coupon that was sticking out of the card. So, Caity finally relented and opened the card. Initially confused by the "Yay Us!" heading, Caity skimmed slowly getting caught up on two check boxes at the bottom that said "Yes" or "Yes". Matthew impatiently asked "Aren't you done yet?", to which Caity looked up and saw champagne, glasses and the ring box. She said "Are you serious?!?". Matthew shook his head and said "This isn't how I imagined this going." He then handed her a pen, and she checked yes! To say Matthew caught Caity off guard is an understatement.