The first date was a fun filled Friday on March 16th, 2018. Alex and Mariah met at an Indian restaurant on the west side of Cincinnati, about halfway between Their homes in Ohio and Indiana. Very nervous, neither of them ate much but spent much of the dinner date talking about what they were looking for in a relationship and who they are as people. The night continued with an impromptu bowling challenge made by an overconfident Alex when he saw the bowling alley across the street. Mariah won... twice. To finish off a perfect date, they went to a movie theater and saw a scary movie called "The Strangers". At the end of the first date, both Alex and Mariah decided to go on a second date just s few days later.

Exactly one year after meeting, Alex and Mariah decided to recreate their first date for lunch. This time, they sampled a little more that the Indian restaurant had to offer. After lunch, they headed back to to the bowling alley and unfortunately, being a Saturday, the lanes were all booked up for the night. Alex was relieved; not only was he spared defeat at the bowling alley, but he had more time for a later plan he had thought up months ago. After a movie at the same theater and with plenty of daylight left, Alex took Mariah to Shawnee Lookout, a park that stands above Indiana and Ohio and got down on one knee.