In 2012, we were set up by our mutual friends, Brooke and Sean. Brooke has been one of my (Erin's) best friends since high school. Sean and Doug were both Evans Scholars at Mizzou and have been friends since. Brooke told me about Doug for a good year before I met him...I wasn't interested in meeting him, or anyone for that matter, or even having a relationship in the first place. I lived in Memphis, TN and had a job where I traveled all the time, including weekends, so I didn't think I'd ever meet this guy anyways. That year, Doug came to visit St. Louis for Sean's birthday party in July, which Brooke tried to get me to come home to go to (remember, I was living in Memphis). I didn't go, but Doug eventually got my number that weekend. Being the gentleman that he is, he first sent me a Facebook message asking if it would be ok if he sent me a text. A few days later he said hello via text, we exchanged a few messages and that was it. Later that month, I told him I was going to be in Chicago for work and asked for directions on the train to my hotel. After providing me with easy to follow public transportation tips, he asked me out to dinner...with some help from his friend Steph, I later found out. I said okay, but I'd meet him at the restaurant. The day of our date, I got lost on Chicago public transportation while navigating myself to Lincoln Park, trying to find a Dairy Queen to go to for Miracle Treat Day. I ended up asking Doug to pick me up after all, or else I would have been very late for this date. We had a great dinner and kept talking; I saw him again for lunch a few weeks later when I was back in Chicago for a day on my way home to Memphis. After lunch, I went walking around Navy Pier by myself and realized I missed his company and wished he was there too. Now I get to enjoy his company forever, and couldn't be more happy!

I was in St. Louis celebrating Keysean Howard's birthday in July 2012 when his girlfriend (now wife), Brooke told me that I should meet one of her friends. I first asked for the friend's name. Then, I asked to see some pictures. Brooke showed me some pictures of Erin and I thought, "this girl is cute." I wasn't sure how I would ever meet Erin, but Brooke was persistent. Brooke entered Erin's number in my phone. When I got back to Chicago, I told my friend, Steph, about what transpired in St. Louis. Erin and I chatted a bit via Facebook, and I told her Brooke already gave me her number. I asked if I could text her, and Erin said yes. After a some back and forth texts, I learned that Erin was coming to Chicago for a work event. I thought this could be a good opportunity to meet Erin. Naturally, I talked to Steph about the best way to ask Erin out for dinner. Steph had a great solution: Steph took my phone, wrote a text asking Erin to dinner at Quartino, and I sent the text message. Erin said yes and I met her for dinner in Chicago when she was in town for the work event. We had a great dinner at Quartino, and five plus years later, Quartino is still one of our favorite restaurants.

I love pandas, and Doug and I had been planning a trip to see the pandas at Zoo Atlanta while I was on clinical rotation in Florida. The zoo offers an encounter where you get to feed a panda, so that was always our plan. When we got to the zoo on Saturday morning and met up with our tour guide, Chris, for the encounter, he said we were waiting for another couple. We stayed the public exhibit for a bit, but after about 15 minutes, we figured the other couple wasn't going to show up, so we walked behind the scenes to see the pandas up close. I later learned that the reason Doug and I were alone on this tour was because he bought every single one of the tickets to it. The "waiting for another couple" bit was just a rouse. We had to put on lab coats and gloves before we went in the panda keeper area. Our tour guide showed us the big bamboo room, some of the other cool parts of the panda house, and a panda keeper showed us training with Lun Lun, the mama panda! She was obviously in a caged area, but we were so close to her! Then, it was time to feed Lun Lun. The panda keeper instructed us to squat down, give the panda the food, have a moment with the panda, then take our feeding stick away. Since we were the only ones on the tour, we got to feed Lun Lun all her biscuits, instead of the normal 1/person allotment! We both fed Lun Lun a few biscuits, but on my last one, Doug walked behind me and got down on one knee. However, I was having my moment with the panda and wasn't turning my head toward Doug! He got my attention, and when I turned and saw him on his knee, I was so excited...I ran away from him out of shock! He told me to come back, said some wonderful words, and asked me to marry him! I obviously replied YES! I still can't believe how Doug coordinated with all the tour guides and panda keepers to pull off such an amazing proposal! The rest of the day was filled with sweet moments telling our family and friends, and celebrating as a newly engaged couple!