We met on our very first day of college at the University of Kansas in August 2017. We were on the rowing team together; Heidi as a coxswain and Lauren as a rower. We quickly became inseparable and we lived together as roommates for the remainder of our time in college. We officially began dating in May 2020!

After we graduated in May 2021, we moved to a VERY small 250 square-foot studio in Gunnison, CO while Heidi worked with Colorado Parks & Wildlife and Lauren finished an internship with USATriathlon. We also adopted our cat, Larry, while we were here! We then moved to Portland, OR in January 2022 where Heidi worked at Guide Dogs for the Blind and Lauren was an assistant rowing coach at the University of Portland. We moved back to Lawrence, KS in July 2023; Heidi as an educator at the Topeka Zoo and Lauren as an assistant rowing coach at KU. We also adopted our big dog, Bruno, shortly afterward in September!

We got engaged on July 1, 2024, in Tamarindo, Costa Rica — just two days into our trip. We had both planned to propose during the vacation, but we were waiting for the right moment to find us. While walking along the beach, we came across a log with the words “I love loving you” carved into it. We looked at each other and knew — this was it. We proposed to each other right there on the sand. The rest of the week was a celebration filled with volcano hikes, misty hanging bridges, and spotting sloths in the rainforest!