Attending neighboring small town high schools, we ran in similar circles. While we had both heard of one another, it wasn't until after high school we had the opportunity to actually meet. We went away to college, Maddie to UW-Madison and Dylan to Winona State. During a weekend in our last semester of college we both ended up visiting those mutual high school friends where we finally met in person. We bonded over lawn darts, pool and our love for dogs. We visited one another at our respective colleges until we graduated, moved back home to the Greater Milwaukee Area and the rest is history.

CV19 brought us many surprises, one being a cancelled trip to the Cayman Islands with Dylan's family and friends set to take place in November 2020. Instead Dylan and Maddie decided to make a trip for themselves alongside Maddie's best friend, D Hansen (MOH), and her fiancé, Christian. We all rented a cabin together in the beautiful Smokey Mountains. On the first day of the trip, November 8th 2020, we hiked the Appalachian Trail on Blood Mountain, which led to the highest peak in Georgia. After traversing through mud pits and hoisting ourselves up by trees (we got lost off trail, but that's a story for another day) we finally got to the top. Surrounded by incredible views, miles and miles of the Appalachian Mountains in fall, we began taking pictures to document our hike. Dylan and Maddie stepped aside to get their picture taken when Dylan got down on one knee and asked for Maddie's hand in marriage. Other hikers around us clapped. We popped a bottle of champagne. We both blacked out and laughed a lot. We hiked back down and spent the next week celebrating us, our engagement and our future forever.