As most modern love stories start, they both swiped right on the dating app Hinge in December of 2020! Turns out they were already close to meeting organically as they lived about 3 houses apart on the same street before meeting. Kaitie was attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, where Adam had just graduated from in the year prior and went on to teach at West Salem High School just outside of La Crosse, WI. A funny memory from this time is that much to her dismay, Adam repeatedly declined Kaitie's invitation to try to pick her up from a bar so the couple could have an alternate "how we met" story to share with family and friends. She even offered to wear a pink wig and reassured him it was a guaranteed yes!

The couple has taken several mini vacations to Duluth, MN while living in the midwest and it has become a very special place to them. A special memory there involved staying at the Inn at Gitch Gummee for their 2 year dating anniversary and waking up to about a foot of snow outside in the morning. On another trip, Adam captured a Polaroid of Kaitie walking towards the camera with the Duluth port lighthouse in the background. This, he would later share during the proposal at the exact same location, was his favorite photo of her. He described her as his lighthouse, and couldn't picture his life without her light in it. Standing together near the lift bridge, after the crowds had cleared out from watching a ship come into port, Adam bent his knee on the snow covered ground and asked the question. The moment was recorded on a tri-pod under the guise of taking their traditional self portrait together with the lift bridge in the background at sunset. The happy couple shared a wonderful dinner at their favorite Italian restauarant before heading home to share the news with their friends and family the next days during Christmas gatherings and celebrations.