The first time Gunnar and I ever met was on Union's campus the summer before I moved in for my freshman year. I happened to bump into him while my sister and I were visiting a friend who was working FUGE camps with him. One of the things we laugh about most often when thinking about this moment is that there really was only one reason I stopped to talk to him: he was walking Buster, Union's live bulldog mascot. Anyone who knows me probably understands that there is no way I wouldn't have taken a moment to talk to the boy walking a puppy on the sidewalk, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a little crush on him in that moment. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but after we started hanging out more, I began to realize that maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that we met that night. Gunnar was a Welcome Week leader, so we were around each other pretty much constantly during my first days on campus. We started talking in passing at events, which led to talking via Instagram DMs, which eventually led us to our first date. I was headed to the library one day but ended up at Starbucks after Gunnar asked if I would want to go grab coffee with him. After our first date went so well, we ended up driving through McDonald's that same night and sat in his car for three hours just talking and basically learning every single thing about each other. This became a pattern over the next month or so until we officially started dating! Over 3 years later, we're just days from being married!

A lot of proposals are pretty elaborate these days, and I always imagined mine being this way. Leading up to the proposal though (which I think Britta was being very patient with me), I tried to think how it could best reflect our relationship. So I wanted a moment alone, away from everyone else when I asked her to be my wife. I also wanted a party full of family and friends who we love to be waiting to celebrate with us. Being a smooth talker, I convinced her we were taking family Christmas pictures at my house (on a rainy Sunday?), and within the next few hours, we were engaged!