Morgan showed up on Keeton's front door step in denim jeans and a North Face hoodie with a cello on her back on a chilly Utah night in November 2023. We were paired up to play Christmas music for our church's Christmas program and, upon coordinating practice times, learned we were next door neighbors! Practices began at Keeton's house and we became friends, often spending time together talking about life, music, or our fairly recent break-ups after practice or when Keeton hosted one of his many get-togethers. While Morgan was busy planning her April 2024 move across the country to Washington DC, Keeton was busy making up a bunch of excuses as to why he shouldn't ask her out. So instead, he friend-zoned himself and decided to help her cross off a bunch of Utah "bucket-list" items before she left in a couple months. In pursuit of the bucket-list, Keeton planned a weekend trip "with friends" to Moab in March so Morgan could see Arches and Canyonlands before leaving. When Morgan showed up for the trip, there weren't a bunch friends waiting to road trip, just Keeton's married friends, Josh and Krissy. Keeton claims to this day his other friends simply "backed out" ;) While in Moab, Keeton caught feelings. Morgan didn't... but she did have a lot of fun and was confused when he started flirting. Shortly after the trip, Keeton asked Morgan out on a date she nearly refused, but couldn't say no to: glass-blowing and dinner in Salt Lake City. In the three weeks that followed before Morgan's big move, we spent all of our spare time together. The day before the big move arrived and Keeton helped Morgan finish packing up her car. Morgan was fully expecting this to be a final goodbye until Keeton informed her he had purchased a ticket for the week she would arrive in DC and would like to help her move in if she'd let him....long story short, she did. The rest is history... Keeton asked Morgan to be his girlfriend twice (once in April and once in May), Morgan rejected Keeton twice (once in April and once in May), Keeton continued to visit DC almost every month while Morgan tried to keep him at arms length, then Morgan realized she was being dumb, asked Keeton to be her boyfriend, Keeton moved to DC, and now we're getting married!

Morgan knew the approximate timeline of when our custom-designed ring was supposed to arrive, so it was pretty hard to plan a way to surprise her. As soon as I heard the date the ring was supposed to be ready, I started to plan a date and a way to make it a surprise. First, I locked in a date in the most inconspicuous way possible- she suggested once she wanted to have a monument date, so I proposed a Saturday I knew we were both free during that same conversation. I took some time to walk the monuments and identify a few places I thought might make a pretty (and relatively low-trafficked) proposal spot. As the date got closer, I realized she might be a little suspicious, so I made a bigger deal out of the gala we were attending together the next week and also asked her out on another date a few days later to celebrate 1.5 years since our first date. That appeared to do the trick. Next, I had a laundry list of things she wanted for the proposal. She wanted her nails done, to look pretty, to have it recorded, to get good pictures, for me to not wear running shoes, for it to be a surprise... the list goes on, but you get the picture. I set to work. For pictures, I'd arranged for my brother in law, Kaden, to fly out and be our disguised paparazzi for the day. He was also in charge of hiding a ring in a certain location and making sure it didn't walk off. To get her nails done, I planned the date close to the gala we were planning to attend, because I knew she'd want to get her nails done before that happened. I also joked with her that she should just always have her nails done if she really wants them done for pictures. She laughed and said it wasn't all that important...? Her sister, Quinlyn, also helped me out on this one by planning a sister manicure outing earlier on the Saturday that I wanted to propose. The day came... and it started out as a disaster. In a morning soccer game, a guy twisted his knee so badly it dislocated and he fell screaming. Morgan, who had just stolen the ball from him, was blamed immediately by the ref and others until he said that she didn't even touch him. We went home next, where she found a new pimple on the left side of her face (which had been clear before that), and had a mini crisis about how she looked and how she didn't want to have any acne on her face when she got engaged (soon) or married (a few months away). After rallying, she left to go to her nail appointment with Quinlyn, where she discovered her car had been towed since she forgot to hang her parking pass in her window. This was the last straw; she told me as we were retrieving her car, “you better not be planning on proposing to me on our date tonight because today just isn’t the day”. We talked for a while, and she consented to reschedule her nail appointment with her sister and maybe try to have a better day. Unbeknownst to her, I was in a crisis mode of my own. Kaden was stuck in Chicago where the airport was shut down due to thunderstorms and wouldn't make it to help take pictures and facilitate the proposal. Morgan was having her worst day of the year where nothing was going right. I shot out messages to a bunch of photographers on facebook and instagram, desperately trying to find a photographer that would be willing to come shoot an engagement that might not even happen that evening. I nearly didn't even get one and call it all off. Morgan ended up going to get her nails done with Quinlyn, where, despite a nail salon crisis, she started feeling better. I then showed up dressed nicely to pick her up for a monuments date, and, after getting ready, seemed in a much better mood. I texted my helpers that it was a go, and to shoot for 6:20...6:30...6:50 pm in the spot I'd selected. We walked our path from the Lincoln Memorial to the island containing the Signers Memorial, where I retrieved the hidden ring and sprung my surprise of a proposal! The worst day turned into the best, and we can't wait to get married!