September 16th, 2010: Two freshmen at the University of Illinois head to their first Business Council General Meeting in Greg 100 as new members of the Fall 2010 class. Little did they know that BC would give them their best friends and each other. Four years of BC events, football tailgates and barn dances spent together as just friends. We both dated other people throughout college and had the blinders on. We actually found out later that we’d even managed to make it through four years of BC without having each other’s numbers. May 2014: We both graduated and got jobs in Chicago Mother’s Day Weekend 2015: Sonja, one of Ashley’s college roommates and best friends had planned to come spend the day in the city. After Sonja stepped off the train, so did Catherine, completing the roommate trio and making it the best surprise! Catherine had found out about a BC reunion party that was happening that night. Ashley hadn’t planned on going, but that plan was easily changed. Pat also happened to be there. We found ourselves talking quite a bit and there may have been a dance floor involved. Before leaving that night, we managed to exchange numbers. The next weekend, there was another BC party and thanks to some Diag sangria, we got up the courage to admit that we were kinda into each other. Memorial Day Weekend 2015: Pat asked Ash out to dinner and she said no. That’s right. Memorial Day Weekend kicks off boating season, her favorite season of the year, and she wasn’t about to miss it for a date. Priorities. Thankfully, he was persistent and when he followed up the next weekend, he got a yes. June 15, 2015: The Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup & we make ‘us’ official May 2017: We move into our first apartment together in Chicago Nov 2018: We decide we like each other enough to lock it in for 30 years buying our first house together June 22, 2019: Pat pulls off the perfect day full of surprises & pops the question 🍾 Oct 16, 2021: The Best Day Ever!