Colleen and Jeff met at Hope College when working orientation before our senior year. It was Saturday, August 29, at lunchtime. Colleen was impressed by Jeff's style, as he was wearing polka dot shorts and a straw hat. After this meeting, she told her roommates "I met a boy in polka dot shorts and a straw hat today, I think I could like him," and Jeff thought "She's fun!" Time went on and they grew closer, and in mid November officially began dating. As you may have guessed, it worked out well for them.

After several years of dating (and many friends getting married) they decided that they were prepared to take the next step and tie the knot themselves. They started looking at engagement rings, and after picking one out Colleen knew that it could happen at any moment, so she was on high alert. Any time they went somewhere that seemed like a possible location for an engagement, she would ask "Are you about to propose to me?" To which Jeff always replied "No." Then came a spring break long weekend in Kentucky. They rented a cozy AirBNB in Louisville, spent a day seeing places like the Louisville Slugger Museum and Churchill Downs, and spent another day exploring natures beauty at Mammoth Caves. There were several moments during this trip that would have been great times for a proposal, but the ring wasn't supposed to be in until after returning to Michigan, so those opportunities were missed. Whether or not Colleen was disappointed by not returning from this trip engaged Jeff will never know. Flash forward to the next Tuesday. They had plans to go for a hike at Sanctuary Woods in Holland. Before leaving, as always, Colleen asked "Are you going to propose to me?" and Jeff replied "No." Colleen thought Jeff was acting weird during their hike (well, weirder than normal) and started getting suspicious. At one point she even patted down Jeff's pockets in search of a ring, but Jeff planned ahead and had the ring box hidden in his jacket pocket behind his gloves. When they got to the point of the trail that overlooks the lakes, Jeff's behavior was highly unusual, making comments about being excited for life together, because they both knew an engagement was coming soon. Then, Jeff got down on one knee. He started telling Colleen how much he loved her and wanted to spend his life with her, but she interrupted several times with "But it's a Tuesday." After finally accepting it was happening on a Tuesday, Colleen said yes and the rest is history!