In the fall of 2019, I unexpectedly had to return home to Michigan for a few months before I moved back to Virginia to start grad school. I was out of a job and looking for work when a new restaurant in town was hiring. While waitressing at First Watch, I kept noticing this cute boy who would come in with his friends a few times every week. After chatting a few times (and my coworkers purposely putting him in my section) he worked up the nerve to ask me to go to a group fitness class at the local gym. I told him yes- but made sure I showed up late enough that I wouldn't be able to get in (cardio is just not my thing haha). After the class, Alex finally decided it was a good time to ask me on a date. We hung out every single day until I had to leave for Virginia and have been doing long distance ever since. Thanks to COVID, we have gotten to spend more time together than expected but we are exciting to soon be living in the same city!

In December of 2020, I was coming home to Michigan to visit my family for Christmas break. At this point we had already picked out my ring a few months prior but I had no idea when it was going to happen. A week before I was headed home, Alex told me we were going to celebrate Christmas with his mom on the 21st because she and her now husband had to work on Christmas. I didn't think anything of it because they both work in the police force and growing up with a Dad as a cop this was normal for me. That day I was struggling with a lot of stress from the previous weeks. Even while getting ready to go to their house I was feeling down and even said to Alex, "don't let me look like crap when you propose to me." Little did I know I was getting ready for that exact moment. Before we went to her house, Alex said he needed to stop at home to grab a book I asked him to get me the day before. I was supper annoyed because I specifically asked him to bring it that morning and I didn't understand why he had to get it at this exact moment (as you might have guessed- this was a ploy to grab the ring). On our drive over, ironically I was showing him different songs options that I thought would be cute as our first dance song. He seemed so unenthused and distracted the entire ride over. When we arrived, we parked and started heading through the backyard. It was dark and Alex acted confused as to why their Christmas lights weren't on. He asked me to help him plug the lights on the gazebo in and pointed to the back corner. I reached down to plug it in and I remember barely touching it when they turned on and thinking 'huh that was easy' haha. When I turned around Alex was down on one knee asking me to marry him. Seconds later both of our families came out of the house to take pictures and celebrate with us and I am so thankful Alex made sure that they were there for that moment. I am not often easy to surprise, but on this day I truly was:).

As of now, I currently live in Richmond Virginia with my pup Beyer. I am in the progress of completing my Master's in Physician Assistant Studies and I will graduate in March of 2022. I have been very blessed to have found a great group of friends both in my program and at my local gym that have made Virginia feel like home! Alex just recently passed his boards and graduated from Physical Therapist Assistant school. He is currently applying for jobs in Virginia and working on his prerequisites to apply to a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program and will hopefully be moving down very soon! We will be getting married in September of this year in Breckenridge, Colorado with our families and plan on having a small celebration next summer after I graduate. The next few years will be full of unknowns but we are excited to see what God has in store for us!