Alright, I’m going to get this out of the way because she will always take the (rightfully deserved) credit for our love story… Thank you Brinna for being the reason I’m typing up this story now (and for other things like being one of my best friends and this is why you’re my maid of honor). A couple of backstories are necessary to set this story up. Brinna and I met freshman year at Purdue University. We were both Animal Sciences majors aspiring to be veterinarians one day. We shared multiple classes together. Not only that, but we also worked together at a restaurant in the Purdue Memorial Union called Flatbreads. It was through all of this that we become best friends. Also during our Freshman year, Brinna met Dylan through a mutual connection. They stayed in touch throughout that year and into mine and Brinna’s sophomore year (and still to this day, but this is where the actual story begins). Brinna and I are working a shift together at Flatbreads as per usual when she tells me about a party at the Chauncey Cooperative House. She said that her friend Dylan is a member of the co-op and she was supposed to go to this party with another friend but now that friend couldn’t, so Brinna asked if I wanted to go with in her place. To be fair, what typical college student says no to a party? Of course I accepted the invite! We arrive at the front steps of Chauncey, and Dylan greets us at the door. It only took a couple moments of conversation for Brinna to see that Dylan and I were hitting it off. I wrote my phone number on his hand, but of course pen ink smudges. Dylan had to track me down. Brinna then gave him my number, and the rest is history!

This was an occasion that was planned for MONTHS. Dylan had bought the ring in November 2021, and him and Delaney (Dylan’s sister and one of my bridesmaids) had been planning exactly how it was all going to go down through strategically planned phone calls. We were down in Sevierville, TN for a family vacation. Dylan and I along with Delaney, Alex (Delaney’s husband) and Sophia (their daughter) took on one of the many trails in the Smoky Mountains; the trail to Laurel Falls. We got to the beautiful falls, and we decided to climb up to a higher point to get a better view. Delaney asked if I’d take a picture of her, Alex, and Sophia. Of course I was happy to do so! Little did I know, this was a distraction as Dylan got down on one knee while I wasn’t looking. A look of confusion on Delaney’s face (he went a little off script) caused me to turn around, and then Dylan proposed! It was perfect and beautiful and OBVIOUSLY I SAID YES!