Kara and Brendan first met at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Kara's roommates had decided to invite Brendan to a small celebration for Kara's 21st birthday and Brendan actually showed up. They had been assigned to the same dorm floor in Highlands 8 and spent a lot of time together. Brendan and Kara quickly became friends and When they left Edinboro to lead separate lives, they reconnected a few years later at a homecoming weekend. In 2017, Kara flew to New York to spend the weekend with Brendan, and in May of the same year, Brendan attended a wedding with Kara in Pittsburgh. He asked her to be his girlfriend and the rest, as they say, is history.

Brendan and Kara were getting ready to go to dinner with Brendan's family and he suggested they go for a short walk. They walked down the bike path near their apartment and they came upon some dinosaur figurines. Kara thought some kid had left them there after playing. Brendan and Kara stopped to get a better look at the figures, and then Kara heard the Jurassic Park theme (anyone who knows Kara knows Jurassic Park is her favorite film of all time). When she turned to say something to Brendan, he was down on one knee. He asked Kara to marry him and she eagerly said "YES!"