We originally met during our sophomore year at the University of Dayton through mutual friends. Funny enough, we were attending a lacrosse Christmas party with different dates but went together in a group. We remained friends over the next few semesters but it wasn't until our second semester junior year that we really hit it off. It was a typical Saturday night at Timothy's Bar on campus. Nolan caught Lilly's eye and she decided to go for it. We spent the entire night talking and from that night on, we knew our connection was special.

After graduation, we knew we were going to face some obstacles with long distance. Nolan was starting off in a rotational program that we knew was going to move him twice within two years, starting in Philadelphia. Lilly decided to move back to Indianapolis to wait out the next two years to see where Nolan would end up. After his first year, the program moved him even further away to the San Francisco Bay Area which was not an easy pill to swallow. While California is an amazing place to visit, the three hour time difference and being on opposite ends of the country put our relationship to the test. But sure enough, there was never a moment of doubt that we wanted to be together and make our relationship work. After his second year, Nolan made the decision that he wanted to stay in the Bay Area long term so Lilly decided to make the move to join him in California. We ended up having the best four years in the Bay Area. Fast forward to June 2023. Nolan accepted a new position at his company that required us to relocate to Portland, OR. While we were sad to leave the Bay Area, we are excited to be starting this new adventure in the Pacific Northwest in our very first home that we recently bought together!

It was a Friday and Nolan wanted to have a date night so he "made plans" to go to a new restaurant we had never been before. He told Lilly to be ready early because he wanted to go have a drink by the water before dinner (we lived a few minutes away from the ocean at the time). He came home from work, picked Lilly up and drove us out to one of our favorite spots on the island. Lilly could tell he was nervous but was also surprised at how cool he was playing it. We started walking towards the water and all of the sudden Nolan stops walking and starts saying all of these wonderful things about our relationship and all of the sudden he was down on one knee with the most beautiful ring in his hands. It was the easiest "yes" for Lilly. And turns out there was never a dinner reservation. After the proposal we went home, ordered pizza and called all of our friends and family with the exciting news. Of course Nolan had one more surprise up his sleeve. He flew Lilly's best friend in to capture the proposal. She was hiding in the bushes taking photos the entire time. Thank you Brooke!