We met as any choir director meets his choir - at the first rehearsal. It was Matt's interview weekend and Dixi was a part of the choir. Dixi was enamored right away! He was smart, talented, attractive, and witty. While Matt was learning the ropes at the Cathedral, Dixi was plotting ways to rope him in. *Insert eyebrow raise* After a number of events in group settings, we finally hung out a few times on our own - and that was that. We started dating. For about 10 weeks or so, we dated normally. Blissfully normal! And then (you all know it…) the shutdown happened. Aside from all the terrible things happening all over the world, our blossoming relationship was a blessing to us. We had 2 locations to hunker down at instead of one. We were able to dive right into cooking together, game nights, movie marathons, and talking about everything and anything until we couldn't talk anymore. Since things reopened, we've been exploring having a social life together. But we also know how to get through life's more mundane moments with joy and grace.

It was a gray Saturday when Matt and Dixi embarked on the Heritage Hill Home Tour. Lines were long, but we were excited to take a look at some lovely Grand Rapids homes. Around our third stop, it started to drizzle. No worries for us – we had our umbrella and rain coats – but not everyone came prepared and the lines drastically shortened. We had an easy-breezy afternoon getting to see the whole list on the tour. After a brief break to warm up and change, we went downtown for dinner & cocktails at Bistro Bella Vita. Then we went back to Dixi's house to sit on the back deck and enjoy the warm (and now sunny) summer evening. That is where Matt proposed – in our garden. It was sweet, cozy, and romantic.

The engagement ring is a bit outside the norm – but it is positively perfect! Created by an artisan in Chicago (where Matt grew up), it is made of rosewood with an inlay of yellow flower petals (Dixi's favorite color) from the first bouquet Matt bought for Dixi, with a few flower petals from our garden this past year. Dixi has never been one to wear jewelry and wanted something a little more suited to her low-key look and eco-friendly ethos. A wood ring was the perfect solution! Rather than use a precious stone, we chose to use rosewood (which is a protected tree species). The artisan who made the ring acquired an assortment of rosewood remnants from a local musical instrument manufacturer. Basically, rather than harvesting new wood for our ring, we were able to get pieces of a marimba to make our ring! With the flower petal inlay, it is truly a work of art.