Eric was born in Sacramento, CA, but grew up in Edmond, OK. He moved to Fort Worth, TX, where he has called home for the past four years. He enjoys his work as an environmental engineer, for the federal government. Kayleen grew up in Haxtun, CO; a town of 1,000 people and no stop lights. She came to Fort Worth for school and never left. She is a librarian at an academic medical library. They met over coffee, and fell in love over tea.

On a trip to the UK in August 2019, they planned to drive in to Wales to hike. Eric saw this as the perfect opportunity to propose (as too did a couple dozen other people, he later found out). He put an engagement ring in his carry-on baggage hoping it wouldn't garner too much attention from security agents. On the tenth day in to their trip, they set out for the Pen y Fan Trail to the highest peak in South Wales in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. With a cold wind cutting across the supple grass into her bones, Kayleen tried to shy away from hope of a proposal (as she suspected might happen that day) to focus on the challenging walk ahead of her. Once arrived at the peak, with Kayleen's breath captured by the landscape and rigorous hike, Eric surprised her with a simple, "Kayleen, will you marry me?"