It was the end of Summer 2015, and both Katie and Daniel were preparing for college to start soon. Katie and her best friend, Hannah, spent most weekends that summer at a friend's house near Ball State University. Coincidentally, one of Daniel's best friends, Tanner, lived at this house, so he was also a regular visitor. Katie and Daniel ended up chatting one summer night, partnering up in a good ol' game of beer pong, and the night ended with Daniel asking Katie for her "Snapchat" (classic 2015 smooth move). This was soon followed by Daniel sending her a "snap," asking for her number. Freshman year of college, Daniel attended Indiana University in Bloomington, and Katie stayed close to home to attend a community college her first year. The two stayed in touch, and Katie ended up making her first visit to Bloomington that fall. Over Thanksgiving break, Daniel officially asked Katie to be his girlfriend, and they never looked back. The following school year, Katie and Hannah both transferred to IU, and they all lived in the same town for the remainder of undergrad, creating countless memories. In 2019, they graduated from IU, and Katie got into grad school at a small university an hour east of Kansas City. Daniel found a job in KC, and the two of them moved into their first apartment together. Katie finished her Master's program and is now a practicing Speech-Language Pathologist at a pediatric private practice. Daniel is currently working for a small tech firm as a DevOps Engineer. In the spring of 2024, Katie and Daniel took their annual ski trip to Colorado. Katie had no idea this trip was about to turn into the best one ever. After the first day of skiing, Daniel managed to convince Katie, with tired legs and all, to take a walk to a nearby park. The two arrived at a snow-covered bridge, where Daniel stopped and dropped to one knee to ask THE question. Katie obviously said yes, followed by a romantic photoshoot and a nice celebratory dinner. After a total of 9 years, the two have made it through 4 and 6 years of college, moved 500 miles away from their families, lived in 3 different apartments, made a ton of new friends, adopted their cat Gemma, and, as of October 2024, they bought their first house just outside of Kansas City. The next thing on their to-do list is to make it official in Kansas City in 2025, making it a total of 10 years together. They are MORE than ready to tie the knot, surrounded by friends and family.