Their story began, like so many love stories, at Navy Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina. Aaron first noticed Ellen during an outing with fellow classmates when she folded a giant piece of pizza in half, dunked it in ranch dressing, and crammed most of it into her mouth. In that moment Aaron knew that this was the woman for him. Braving the cloud of barely masticated pizza around Ellen's head, Aaron approached to talk to her. He asked where she had gone to school. She told him Notre Dame and he said that he had a friend named Anna Halverson who had also gone there. Ellen answered, "I hear she's the worst" to which Aaron answered "No, she's actually pretty cool!" Aaron had passed the test. Ellen was intrigued.

The time had come for Ellen to transfer from Washington to Michigan. Aaron, Anna, and Anna's boyfriend Nick came out to help Ellen give Washington a proper goodbye. The group had an amazing weekend filled with a hot tub boat ride around Lake Union, a tour of the Space Needle, a Darius Rucker concert, and a hike around the Mount Rainier National Park. Aaron and Ellen enjoyed reminiscing about all of the wonderful memories they had made together in Washington. The culmination of the fun and perfect weekend was when Aaron proposed. Their dear friends Ivaly and Scott Alexander (who were in on the plans) were standing by to help them celebrate in style with champagne and a private fireworks show.