It all began in the Spring of 2016 when Ethan and Madelynn were both accepted into an academic/social honorary at the University of Arizona called Mortar Board. They were initiated into the honorary at Old Main on campus, which is where they had their first interaction. Their conversation was not anything special so neither of them had an interest in each other. However, over the following weeks, they began spending a lot of time together in group settings with other people in the honorary and 2-stepped more times than they can count at a country bar near campus. On April 23, 2016, they went on their first date, though Madelynn didn't even realize it was a date, which was evidenced by her wet hair after jumping out of the shower and throwing clothes on. They went to a burger place called "Lindy's on 4th,” had a great time, and the rest is history!

Ethan had been working in Boston since graduating from the University of Arizona, causing him and Madelynn to have a long distance relationship. This lasted for two years. The first 10 months of long distance were between Boston and Arizona. The gap closed significantly when Madelynn moved to Delaware for Physician Assistant school, however they were still a 6 hour drive apart. Ethan began thinking about how Madelynn was graduating in May 2020 and knew he wanted to propose. However, they both decided they wanted to wait for this until they were no longer doing long distance. Thankfully, he was able to find work in New Jersey in the summer of 2019, approximately 45 minutes from her apartment. He then began planning what/when/where he was going to propose with her best friend and Maid of Honor, Lauren Flannagan. Ethan ultimately decided he wanted to do it on the Friday after Thanksgiving for 2 major reasons: 1) Her parents and brother were in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, and 2) he wanted to totally surprise her. On Thanksgiving day, Ethan asked Madelynn's dad for his blessing. He (thankfully) said yes, so Ethan began planning the details with her parents and brother. The next day, on November 29th, Madelynn and her family drove to meet Ethan at TopGolf near his apartment, but they made a pitstop along the way to pick Ethan up, or so Madelynn thought. She ran upstairs to grab him and when she walked through the door, his apartment was decorated with an abundance of candles, a rose petal pathway, and string lights. Ethan got down on one knee and proposed, and they celebrated the occasion with her family afterwards at dinner!