Once upon a time, in the basement of Bobb-McCulloch Hall... Katie and Rob lived a few doors down from each other. Their first interaction was at a floor meeting, which Rob rolled into several minutes late. Katie remembers thinking to herself, 'That's the cutest guy on my floor.' But the rest wasn't quite history. At least not yet. Katie and Rob developed a close friendship over the next year, bringing each other to formals, sharing several classes, and meeting each other's families between dinners in Evanston and a trip to Louisville for the 2016 Kentucky Derby. Surely, mutual feelings were present by the time Katie invited Rob to Tri Delt's formal in November 2016, consciously or not. But when Rob held Katie's hand — and she squeezed back — on the bus home, it was confirmed. The two beat around the bush for a month or two thereafter, until Katie broke the ice by declaring, 'I haven't stopped thinking about you holding my hand for weeks,' as she left a platonic hang in his room one night. Rob, too stunned to respond in the moment, texted her, 'Same,' minutes later. This time, the rest was history. Katie and Rob officially began dating on January 27, 2017, while Katie was spending a semester 'abroad' in San Francisco. The photo above was taken in Golden Gate Park. Holding hands again. This time for good. Since, their relationship has traversed Evanston, Chicago and most recently Brooklyn, where they moved in together last year. Rob proposed at the first apartment they shared — while all the walls of said apartment were still upright — with a trail of letters, photos and flowers to greet Katie upon her return from seeing a Broadway show. Katie and Rob's love was built on a foundation of friendship, but has blossomed through shared values, humor and what already feels like a lifetime's worth of memories. They couldn't be more excited to celebrate that love with all of you, the people they hold most dear, this October. After eight years together, Katie and Rob can hardly remember life without one another. But they're just getting started.