Hailey and Austin first met back in 2012 when Hailey transferred from Hartford to Lomira for sixth grade; they were both in Mrs. Wild's homeroom class. At first, Hailey was not a fan of Austin as he was constantly picking on her (some things never change). Nevertheless, by the end of sixth grade, they had become more fond of each other. A friendship developed as they bonded over school, similar family backgrounds, and of course, their love of country music. On October 3, 2013, Austin told Hailey that he had a crush on her. Hailey at first thought he was playing a joke on her and never knew that moment would change both of their lives. As the years went on they grew up together, learning to love each other more and more through each phase of life. Through their shared interests of hunting & fishing, golf, their dog Buck, and spending time with friends and family there is never a dull moment. Even though they have been together for all these years, they have learned time truly does fly when you're with someone you love.

About a year before Hailey's graduation from UW-La Crosse, Austin's brother, Aaron, had reached out to Hailey bringing up the idea of going on a trip post-graduation to celebrate. One of Hailey's favorite places, Nashville, seemed like the perfect destination to party accordingly, especially since Austin had never been there before. Austin, Aaron, and Aaron's husband, Kyle, took the lead with planning the trip and let Hailey worry about finishing her last semester of college. Austin, who is not the natural planner of the couple, was much more involved than normal, even doing extra research, suggesting different excursions, and insisting that they drive rather than fly (which Hailey definitely took notice too). So, three short days after Hailey's graduation from UW-La Crosse, Hailey and Austin set out on their road trip to Nashville! Since Hailey and Austin were driving, they decided to leave a day early and make a pitstop in St. Louis on the way to see the Brewers play the Cardinals at Busch Stadium (the Bewers lost 0-3, but nevertheless it was a great time). On Thursday, May 18, Hailey and Austin made their way to Nashville to meet up with Aaron and Kyle. Since the boys’ flight did not get in til later that night, Hailey and Austin bummed around making their way to some boot shops, dinner, and a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Once Hailey and Austin met up with Aaron and Kyle, the guys all decided that they should take an Uber to the Nashville walking bridge, intending to take a walk across it on the way to Broadway for the night. When everyone got out of the Uber and started to embark toward the bridge, Hailey went to reach for Austin’s hand and noticed that he had both hands in his pockets, a very unusual thing. He also neglected to grab her hand and kept walking. At this point, Hailey was very suspicious of what was going on. They got to a point on the bridge where Aaron had asked Hailey to take a picture of him and Kyle. When she was done, Aaron said to her “do you want me to take a picture of you and Austin?”, which Hailey replied, “sure”. When Aaron’s response to that was, “well you don’t seem very excited about that, so Hailey and Austin can’t do it now”, Hailey knew what was going on… They all kept walking to the next lookout on the bridge, when someone decided Austin and Hailey should take a picture there. As Hailey and Austin posed, Kyle and Aaron both had their phones out, and Hailey felt Austin pull his arm back from around her waist. When she looked to her right, she saw Austin smiling, giving her a “you know what’s coming” look, as he got down on one knee. Anyone who has been proposed to can relate to the fact you kind of “black out” (for lack of a better term) and the joyous moment overflows you with adrenaline and emotion. Hailey said “YES” and cried as she realized that a moment she and Austin had talked about for over nine years was no longer just two 13 year old kids talking about “what could be”.