It was 2:45pm on a Thursday, Noah, a junior in high school, and Emily, a sophomore, had just finished their final period of the school day. It was a gym day, and prior to dismissal, everyone was gathered in the gym conversing. Emily would say that a buzzed hair boy with a cute smile came over to say "hi". Noah isn't sure who exactly made the first move. After some conversation, they parted ways, but not without exchanging numbers (smooth Noah). They would go on to text, as any solid high school relationship in 2010 begins, and Noah asked Emily to wear his football jersey to the game that very next day. Huge deal. Emily thought it was wild that he wore her birthday/month number "2". After that game, they made plans to go to an apple orchard with friends that weekend. A week later, Noah asked Emily to homecoming, where Emily wore a short purple dress and Noah and his family searched for a purple tie to match. The night of homecoming Noah asked Emily to be his girlfriend, and the rest is...well...not as straightforward as you'd think. Following a three year relationship, they parted ways during college, as many do in order to "find themselves as individuals". Emily would say it was the best thing that happened to them and their future relationship, only after she got over the initial heartbreak, many years passing, and getting back together. Noah would say the years apart were the worst three years of his life. They found themselves in the Summer of 2016 meeting at their previous favorite coffee shop, Caribou, to catch up on the last three years. And NOW the rest was history.

It was August of 2020, Emily was only weeks into her new job in the schools when Noah suggested they take a trip for her newfound school scheduled "fall break". As they both wanted to appreciate the fall season and all of its beauty, the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN were calling. Noah insisted that he wanted to take on planning this trip, a role Emily usually had in their relationship. Emily was curious about his vested interest and persistence with taking charge of planning, but with the stress of a new job, she appreciated his lead. The day had come for them to leave and the trips first surprise, of many yet to come, was when Noah showed up in the driveway with a mustang convertible for the road trip. Emily thought it was sweet he wanted to make the trip special with a cool ride, but was slightly annoyed, however, when Noah said the box fan Emily requires to sleep with just wouldn't fit in the new car (a cover for the later logistics of the trip). They traveled to Gatlinburg, TN that evening listening to an audiobook, intermittently pausing to discuss the themes as they usually did on their frequent road trips. They enjoyed their first day of hiking and relaxing, taking in all of the beautiful scenery. On the second day of the trip, Noah woke Emily up at 6am bright eyed, and asked if she was ready to go hiking first thing that morning. She asked that they sleep for at least one more hour, wondering why her night owl was so lively that morning. After extra coffee and any additional hour of sleep, they made their way to the Chimney Top trail, where at the peak of a mountain, Noah got down on one knee and proposed. Emily was shocked and elated, but even more so when he went onto explain that they would be ending their trip in the mountains early to fly back home the next day to WI for a celebration with their families. The day would go down in history as the day that Emily learned Noah has phenomenal planning skills and as one of the happiest in their lives.