Hyten and Christian met in Chicago on a wintry Saturday in February 2018 at the auditions for a theatre festival. Each had written a short play being performed in the festival and were there to cast it alongside their directors. Throughout the day, Hyten noticed the guy behind her cracking jokes and livening up a long day stuck in one room. A thrilling lunchtime conversation about vegetarian shepherd's pie kicked off an acquaintanceship that resurfaced months later at opening night of the festival when they saw each other again. That April, Hyten and Christian finally had their first date at Hopleaf, a bar uptown. Soon after they began dating and enjoyed sharing their interests with each other: She turned a stubborn city kid into a hiker and nature lover, while he indoctrinated her as a devoted fan of Cubs baseball. (Attempts to convert each other into respective fans of The West Wing and horror movies are still ongoing.) By 2019, Christian and Hyten moved into an apartment in Wrigleyville, adding a third roommate in the form of a loud-mouthed dachshund puppy named Scully. That October they rented a cabin at Starved Rock State Park for Hyten's birthday where Christian had planned a surprise. Gifted his mother's old engagement ring, he had it reset in a new diamond-encrusted rose gold band. The only problem: they were about to leave for the weekend and the ring wasn't ready! As Hyten left to walk Scully before getting in the car, Christian snuck away to a meetup down the block where a frazzled employee had sped to make the covert hand-off. Ring on hand just in time, they left for the day -- hiking and enjoying their little cabin getaway. That evening, the two left for one last hike that ended at a secluded waterfall where Christian got down on his knee and proposed. Almost two years, one pandemic and a few delays and cancellations later, Christian and Hyten can't wait to marry this September along the Virginian mountainside.