Aurion and Emma both grew up in Alton, IL, and have been in school together since 6th grade. After being in jazz band together for several years, the two met during summer school after freshman year of high school. They continued to be close friends all through high school, enjoying lots of fun times in marching band, orchestra, and on school trips, and it was during their senior year of high school that Aurion and Emma started dating. After high school graduation, Aurion and Emma said a temporary goodbye as they both went separate directions for college. During the next four years, they shared a long distance relationship as Aurion attended Iowa State University for marketing and management, and Emma attended the University of Kansas for pharmacy. Fast forward to graduation in 2017, when Aurion completed his degrees, and the Cyclone and Jayhawk finally moved in together and were reunited. They share their beautiful home in Lawrence, Kansas, with their lovely and crazy cats, Luna and Nova. Emma completed her Doctorate of Pharmacy from KU in May of 2019. Aurion and Emma are excited to celebrate their marriage with friends and family, back home in Alton, IL at the end of November.

He had the ring for almost a full year, waiting for the perfect moment— then that day came: On October 27th, 2018, Aurion woke up early to head to Bonner Springs, KS, where his workplace was holding a 5K. Emma arrived a few hours later with her running shoes laced up and ready to go. While Aurion was busy running around making sure things were going as smoothly as possible, Emma was running through the fairgrounds. Thirty minutes later, happy to see Aurion AND the finish line, Emma emerged victorious. Focused on getting some water and finding a place to sit, it took a few moments for Aurion to convince her to focus on him and open up her bag. After a little exasperation on Emma’s part (and probably Aurion’s too), she pulled a small box out of her bag and finally stopped talking. The ring was beautiful, and the rest is history!