It was Fall 2012, and Homecoming was in the air at Mizzou. For those that don’t know, the tradition of homecoming was founded by Mizzou in 1911, so it was a very important and busy time of year for greek students such as Emily and I. As fate would have it, her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, was paired with my fraternity, Delta Tau Delta. This pairing meant a lot of time spent together working on house decorations, building a float, dance team practices, skits, all in preparation for the Homecoming weekend to entertain all returning alumni, parents, students, and the local community. I was a Junior, who typically did not live in the fraternity but as an Executive Board member, I was obligated to. And as an upperclassmen, we of course left all of the labor to the younger crowd. So as I returned to my room, I passed by a room I knew belonged to underclassmen in the hall with a lot of noise coming from it. I entered initially to ask everyone to get outside and work, but was immediately paralyzed when my eyes met Emily’s. It was electric, I was instantly drawn to her. I spent that entire day just trying to be with her. I volunteered to help with all of the work that was going on just to be by her side. I can’t remember anything that I did or anything that was said, because my heart was so fixated on that contagious laugh and smile that Emily has. From there, we got to know each other a little more through casual encounters. I eventually gained the courage to ask her out, only to be denied. I probably asked Emily out once a month for a year until she eventually caved in and agreed. And since that day, we’ve never turned back, and our love has only grown.

After graduating from Mizzou, my heart led me to Kansas City where Matt had been living for the last year and a half while I finished school. After 2 years of starting a life together in a new city, I was offered a job in my home state of Minnesota, and as hard as it would be, we knew our relationship would be able to withstand being long distance until Matt could find the right job in Minnesota. We were traveling to Minnesota to celebrate a friend moving back from California and were planning on going out on the lake that day with our friends and then to do a date night to celebrate my new job. However, Matt had other plans. He insisted we get dressed up and go to dinner a bit earlier and instead of going to dinner in Wayzata, we ended up at the Noerenberg Garden to "kill time" before our reservation. He led me to a spot in the garden that looked very similar to the infamous columns at Mizzou. From there he took my hands, got down on one knee, pulled a ring out from his pocket, and asked me to spend forever with him. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I forgot to say yes, but I think he understood it was a yes when I kissed him. From there we went to 6Smith for what I thought would be just the two of us getting dinner, but Matt surprised me again with a party filled with our family and friends. We spent the rest of the night celebrating with those who traveled near and far at different spots around the lake. It was an evening I will forever cherish.