They met at Grand Valley State University. They had a lot of mutual friends through Young Life and Campus Ministry so it was natural that they just ended up spending a lot of time together. Over time, Les and Katie became good friends-going to Campus Ministry events together, hanging out, playing basketball with and at times against each other (#TeamAndrea!). After graduation he moved back to Detroit and she stayed in the Grand Rapids area. Even though they both went their separate ways, they remained good friends.

Les moved back to the West Side of the state and asked Katie to dinner at one of his favorite Indian places in Grand Rapids. They met, talked for awhile, and enjoyed catching up. After that dinner they began talking on the phone, texting quite a bit and hanging out more and more. As the end of 2017 drew near, it became apparent that something was going on, but what it was, they didn't really know. One evening Katie finally just asked Lester, "What are we doing?" His response was a casual and obvious "Dating." And so it was confirmed, they were indeed in a relationship.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019. After a hard year for both Katie and Les, they decided to take a little vacation at the end of the summer to Toronto. They spent the time exploring the city, hiking, enjoying some really stellar tacos, and walking the Canadian side of the River Walk. On their last night there, Les handed Katie a card and a big box. The card was sweet, funny, and thoughtful and the box was filled with a dope pair of Retro One Jordans. Knowing how much Les loves Jordans, Katie was pumped to finally have her own pair, especially a pair that Les picked out just for her. After a few moments trying on the right shoe, Katie finally asked for the left shoe. Les handed it over and inside was a ring box. Lester got down on one knee and asked Katie to kick it with him forever. And of course, she said yes!