Their love story began like most, in a bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. They were both in New Orleans for the Annual National Athletic Training Association Conference, Ryan for his job at Amazon and Shannon looking for a job after grad school. They noticed each other across a crowded bar but were both too awkward to say hello. Shannon's friend Casey had had enough of the awkwardness and dragged Shannon over to Ryan and said, "She thinks you're cute." They ended up spending the rest of their time in New Orleans together (Ryan even extended his trip to stay an extra day). They knew there was definitely a spark but Ryan was flying back to Charlotte and Shannon was flying back to DC. Somehow, they made a long distance relationship look easy and just a little over a year later they moved in together. They're currently living in Columbia, Maryland with their dog, Willie Nelson.

Shannon and Ryan share a love of Asheville. It was the first vacation they went on together and became a quick favorite, especially around the holidays. Shannon has a love of history and the Biltmore mansion is one of the couples' favorite places in Asheville. Ryan planned a special night with a private tour of the estate followed by dinner on New Year's Eve. They had some time between the tour and dinner so Ryan suggested taking a picture by the big lit tree on the mansion's front lawn. They split up to try to find a good spot and Ryan called Shannon over when he found a good spot. He had hung 2 ornaments from the tree, one was a snowman gift box and the other was a red ornament with the words "Will you marry me?" Needless to say, Shannon (misty eyed) immediately said yes!