We're getting married!

If you asked Michael, he’d say we met because he went to France and leave it at that. For the record, no, we did not meet in France! In July of 2024, Michael and Kara matched on Hinge (a true modern love story). As a big traveler, one of Kara’s prompts was something along the lines of “tell me your best travel story.” When Michael responded with what can only be described as the most effective pick-up line ever, “the French government is after me,” Kara had to hear the story. Of course, it was only from a speeding ticket, but it was enough to get the conversation going. We started messaging only a few days before Kara left for a weeklong trip to Europe. Michael (conveniently) says that’s why it took him so long to ask her on a date. When we finally made it to the first date, the plan was mini golf. Michael “absolutely destroyed” Kara. He says he knew Kara liked him because he gave her an out after mini golf that she (thankfully) didn’t take. After a few more dates, Michael planned a thoughtful, special date and asked Kara to be his girlfriend! It’s been a sweet year (and some change) of memories, dates, traveling, meeting families and friends, and, best of all, falling in love!

Kara wanted the proposal to be a surprise (obviously). But she also requested a party after the engagement withall her friends and family (because she’s difficult likeu that). We‘d had multiple conversations about engagement and our impending marriage, so Kara knew it was coming. (Not to mention that, thanks to her womanly intuition, Kara knew exactly when Michael talked to her Dad and when he picked up the ring.) She had it narrowed it down to three possible weekends; Kara’s friends and family did a great job throwing her off—she was convinced it was happening the first weekend. Joke’s on her; it didn’t happen. The second weekend was our one-year anniversary of dating and Kara was sure she would not be getting engaged. (In fact, as our friends and family can attest, Kara actually said multiple times that it wasn’t happening that weekend. She had book club at 2PM, and it simply didn’t make sense!) To celebrate our anniversary, we’d go to brunch. The afternoon was out (book club!) and dinner was out, too, since skipping an OU game is a cardinal sin. While Kara had caught on by that morning, she, of course, didn’t want to assume. Michael took her to favorite coffee shop where they were going to spend 2 hours (as Michael had told Kara MULTIPLE times). After being at the coffee shop for about 15 minutes, Michael asks, “Are you ready to go?” Kara, confused, asked what the rush was? After all, they didn’t have anywhere to be for hours. By now, Kara was certain that Michael was proposing. Being very good at keeping secrets, Michael explained, “I just have a surprise.” He took Kara to a park where he had prepared for the proposal and gotten a photographer ready to take pictures for them. He got down on one knee (for literally 15 seconds) and asked Kara to marry him. Obviously, she said yes! Michael says he blacked out, but Kara remembers every word he said—it was only two sentences, after all. “Kara, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” The photographer even made him get back down on one knee to reenact the moment, as it was too quick to get more than one picture! We got lunch together, had time to reflect on our year of dating, and look towards the future and the exciting things to come in engagement and marriage! To round our such a perfect day, we went to Michael’s parent’s house, where we celebrated with all our friends and family. We love the story of our engagement and can’t wait to celebrate the beginning of our marriage with y’all!