Matt and I first met through mutual friends at a party as we were both attending school at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We started out just as friends and as we got to know each other more our relationship grew into something special. Matt officially asked me to be his girlfriend on October 1st 2015 while we were on a hike at Minneopa Falls. We were sitting on a large rock at the base of the waterfall just watching and listening to its roar as Matt nervously goes "Karli, I've got a question for you." My response instinctively was "uh oh", we both laughed and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. Since then we've had our ups and downs but we know we were both meant to be together and cant wait for this next chapter in our lives.

5 years after Matt asked me to be his girlfriend we had planned this amazing trip to Hawaii to celebrate our fifth anniversary together but since 2020 had other plans and gave us a global pandemic instead we had to cancel our trip. We both still had a week and a half off work so we decided to make the most of our time and go on a road trip instead. We had no official plans except that we were going to Georgia and Arkansas to visit some family. We started out by going to Atlanta to visit some of Matt's family including his grandma who we were lucky enough to celebrate her birthday with. After that we went and visited my brother, sister in law and DOG nephews! :) On October 3rd 2020 we decided to go to Stone Mountain for a hike. While we were hiking around a few lakes we found a beautiful place to stop and take a few pictures and Matt goes "Well Karli, I guess there's no better time than the present", and instinctively AGAIN, I say "uh oh" as he gets down on one knee and I immediately start crying. He asked me to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him and of course I said YES! <3 The rest of our trip was amazing too. We went camping for a few nights at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, we also went golfing and site seeing. After that we went further north in Arkansas to visit more of Matt's family where we were spoiled with some amazing food and quality time with people we don't get to see very often. Needless to say it was the BEST trip of our lives and one we will never forget!!