We met at the high school pool in Rockford during a water polo tournament. My brother Logan and I were eating fruit snacks, and we decided to throw them into some of his teammates' hoods. We happened to pick Evan's hood. When Evan finally realized someone was messing with him, he quickly turned around and saw me. I swear he did a double take. Later on, he worked up the courage to talk to me. I was at Michigan State and he was in high school, so we had lots to talk about and connect on. When the team went to leave, I pulled Logan aside and told him "If any of these guys ask for my snapchat, only he [Evan] could have it." He asked in the locker room minutes later. Now, we are getting married!

The proposal process began by picking out the engagement ring. My best friend (Quinn) and I drove to Jensen Jewelers in Jenison, and I had no clue what I was doing. All I knew going in was that Rachel had requested a sapphire and that I wanted it to be simple, not clunky. I fell in love with the first ring I saw, sapphire and all. I knew it was the one, even though it was the first. I didn't need to see any more. The last step was the proposal itself, and it was much easier. I took Rachel to the top of Olive Shores, a park in West Olive that has stairs leading over giant dunes before reaching the beach. I thought Olive Shores was the perfect location to propose, and we even broke the rules and brought Cosmo with us. I put Rachel and Cosmo on a bench and pretended I was taking a picture before I began to read the poem I painfully constructed. I asked her to be my wife, somehow receiving a "Yes!" (+ tears), and then we celebrated by walking to the beach. It was perfect.