Tom and I met briefly at my house in Ridgway when my brother Matt brought him home from college in 2016. I started college that month at the same school as Tom so I saw him around campus here and there. We only started talking when he came to my house for New Years to hunt with my brothers and dad in 2021-2022. We hung out all night with my family having drinks, playing cards and pool, and chatting at the grocery store and bars down the street. The next day I asked my brother if I could marry his friend. At that point, Tom liked me too but neither of us actually thought it would happen. I ended up travel nursing in Cleveland after a few months. We hung out in a group of friends and got to know each other super well. Tom came over soaking wet after working garbage duty at a rainy festival one weekend and asked me out at the end of the summer. It was lovely! Funny how it actually ended up happening!

Tom and I were both off work on a random Wednesday. We had jokingly talked about going on a date to the hospital cafeteria where he worked for lunch and decided to go that day. We were on our way out the door but we ran back inside so I could get a coffee first. Tom looked at me while we were waiting and said "Wait a minute. I think I have something you might like better than coffee." He ran upstairs, came back down, got down on his knee right in the dining room, and said- "Grace, I cannot wait another minute to ask you to be my wife!" He was planning on proposing a few weeks later when my family would be around, but after he got the ring blessed that morning, he got a little antsy and ended up doing it that same day. It was equally as surprising for him as it was for me, and it really spiced up our Wednesday morning! It was my ideal engagement- an actual surprise and completely unscripted on his part. It was really simple and exactly what I love!