Katie and Joe both got placed in Collins dormitory their freshman year of college. On the first night, Katie went to her friend Lindsey's room for pizza and movies with a few girls from their hall. Joe was hanging out in his room when his roommate and close friend, Scott, came to the door and said "there is a group of girls down the hall that are watching a movie...want to go??" Easy decision. Joe and Scott made their way to the girls room and Katie and Joe met for the first time on August 17, 2006.

Katie and Joe didn't have their first kiss until they knew each other for 10.5 years. So what happened in between?? (sigh) Lots of friendzoning. Friend dates to soccer games. Friend dates to swimming pools. Half Marathons together. Adventure races together. Library study sessions together. Facebook posts. Facebook messages. Texts. Everything. They were extremely close friends and were both very content with their platonic relationship. After graduation, Katie moved to New York and Joe moved to Phoenix. They saw each other when Joe flew back home, and while they always enjoyed those visits, there was no change in relationship status. When Katie's close friend, Claire, got married, they shared all of their slow dances at the wedding. When Joe was thinking about moving back to New York, he called Katie to get her advice. Even though they weren't in the same place for years, they still had a strong affinity for each other. Joe remembers being sad that Katie didn't come to homecoming. Katie remembers being sad that Joe decided to move to New York after she had moved to Raleigh. During the fall of 2016, Joe and Joe's close friend, John, visited Katie in Raleigh...and something started to change. Flirting ramped up. Texting ramped up. And for the first time ever, they both looked at each other differently. Fast forward to February 2017, and Katie and Joe saw each other 3 times in 5 weeks. They would never look back.

Katie and Joe decided to give long distance a go in March 2017. 500 miles certainly tested them, but their love was strong enough to carry them through. They had Google Hangouts almost every night and somehow managed to never go more than 3 weeks without seeing each other. Katie would fly up to the New York and Joe would fly down to Raleigh. However, it was their vacations that allowed their relationships to grow. Camping and exploring national parks out west. Golfing and staycations in North Carolina. Highway 1 adventures in California, and hiking adventures in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was all magical. After long months, Katie graduated from UNC and moved up to NYC to be with Joe. They got their NYC apartment, Katie got a great job, Joe got his big screen TV, and they settled down into their new life.

Mohonk Mountain has a famous hike called The Lemon Squeeze which is a difficult 45 minute rock scramble with great views of the Catskills at the top. Due to the athletic ability needed to complete the hike, Joe and Connor (Joe's brother) have always joked that they weren't interested in dating anyone if they couldn't finish the Squeeze. In fact, when Joe and Katie first started dating, Joe joked (or did he?) that Katie would have to complete the hike before they took their relationship to the next level. Fast forward a year, Joe had the ring and Katie's parents blessing. He was looking for an engagement idea when Katie suggested a weekend away in upstate NY and a Lemon Squeeze hike so she could finally prove her mettle. To throw Katie off the scent, Connor joined the weekend getaway and was in on Joe's plans. Unsurprisingly, Katie crushed the hike and had NO idea what was coming next. Joe planned to propose at one of the gazebo's on the way down, with a view of Mohonk Mountain House and the Catskills in the background. The first Gazebo was called "Hayes Lookout"... and Hayes is Katie's middle name! Joe had absolutely no idea that he would luck into such a ideal location (he took credit for it obviously), but knew it was the perfect spot to propose. He asked Connor to take a picture of the two of them in front of the sign, and the rest is history.