As some (maybe most people in this day in age) meet, Christian and I met on the internet in January 2018. If I’m remembering correctly, me matched both on Bumble and Tinder. We talked for a bit, exchanged numbers and Snapchats, and life went on. He saw other girls, I saw other guys. We never seemed to be single at the same time. When he left for basic training, we still had each other on Snapchat and he would sent me what I call “tool pics” of him flexing in the mirror at the gym. (And in the back of my mind, I was remembering him more and more and thinking he was looking pretty good!) I sent him the heart eyes emoji a few times, and we started talking again. I told him I was unexpectedly going to be interning in Duluth again starting in October, he told me he would take me on a date. I’m thinking “yeah okay buddy, I’ll believe it when I see it”. But he did! He messaged me asking my address to pick me up, brought me to Guadalajara for Mexican food, and we just kept hanging out after work. I had some thick walls up thinking I didn’t want a relationship and wanted to move away, but he was persistant. He asked me to be his girlfriend plenty of times, but I kept making the same excuses. Finally, on November 30, 2018, I asked him to ask me again, and I finally said yes. He was relieved and we were both excited. The universe aligned perfectly for us to be together.

I knew from pretty much the time I met Christian there was something different about him. I knew quickly that he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, so I had told him I wanted initially to be married in 2021 so I gave him a deadline of August 31, 2020 to propose so I would have plenty of time to plan a wedding. August 31 came and went, and I wasn’t too upset (except for the two days I gave him the silent treatment) because COVID-19 ruined a lot of weddings and I wasn’t sure a date I wanted would even be available for 2021. When one day at breakfast Christian said “let’s go up the North Shore this weekend and see the leaves” I instantly suspected something because we didn’t leave the house because of quarentine. I told some friends that I thought something was up, but “my exceptations were low”. The day of, I was getting ready and he was acting strange: asking me when I would be ready, who’s car we should take, etc. Traffic was crazy going up the shore, the leaves were in peak colors that weekend. I told him miltiple times to turn around and go home - that I didn’t have the patience for it. But we traveled on to Lutsen, a resort town knwon for their ski hills and lake views. We took a gondala ride to the top of the hill where there was a restaurant and bar, grabbed a quick bite to eat (and a Castle Cream Ale!) and went to look at the leaves. He asked a random woman to take our picture, and she said “of course! I’m a wedding photographer!” And he said “perfect” got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was perfect, beautiful, and amazing. She even got it on video! We celebrated our engagement at North Shore Winery with a glass (or two!) of wine. Our family and friends were very excited and we couldn’t be more excited to start our new adventure together!