We technically first met in 5th grade (yikes!), but the mullet that Matt was sporting kept Evelyn at a safe distance. Fast forward 4 years and, as high schoolers, we found ourselves with less unfortunate haircuts (save for Evelyn’s brief run-in with front bangs) and through shared classes, we came to be great friends. After 2 years in the friend zone, Matt asked Evelyn to be his girlfriend in late 2010. We couldn’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together, so naturally we waited 9 more years before getting engaged on December 23, 2019! Jokes aside, the timing felt perfect to us both. We’ve seen each other through the highs and lows of high school, college, medical school, career changes, (and now planning/cancelling/re-planning our wedding!), and we're eager to take on the rest of life’s adventures as a married couple.

It was Christmas time in 2019 and Evelyn’s best friend Karley was home for the holidays with her boyfriend Taiga! Karley mentioned that Taiga had recently gotten a new camera and was eager to test it out. With that in mind, Evelyn suggested they take a nice winter walk in the woods around her parents’ home where there would be plenty of picturesque scenes for him to capture, including the tucked-away little pond in the middle of the forest. Little did Evelyn know, this was Matt’s plan all along (she’s still not sure when he planted this idea in her head!). Reaching the pond, Matt led Evelyn out onto the ice while showering her with sweet declarations (at least we think so, we both sort of blacked out), got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him! Taiga was at the ready, capturing the engagement on camera.