I started planning in the summer of 2019. Meghan was assigned to a clinical rotation in San Diego for the first half of her upcoming 2020 spring semester. Meghan, wanting to know every little detail of her wedding, had agreed with me that a 14-18-month engagement would work out well while targeting an October wedding. I still think this was Meghan’s plan to discover when I would propose to her, but to her dismay, I would not offer any other proposal hints. Meghan’s time in San Diego fell outside of that 14-18-month engagement range. In the back of my mind I was thinking about a San Diego proposal but told Meghan’s parents and my parents that I was going to propose to Meghan somewhere in the Midwest late spring of 2020. This was the safest bet – if I was able to pull off San Diego it would be a nice surprise for us all. I love surprising Meghan – mostly because she rarely shows emotion besides a quaint smile. I was determined to make the engagement a surprise. Meghan had formed most of the ideas for a wedding already, so the engagement was my way to plan something for us by myself. The combination of San Diego being outside of our engagement timeframe (surprise factor) and its scenery gave me plenty of reason. I connected with a SD proposal photographer who shared a similar vision with me. I booked an AirBnB for Meghan and I in La Jolla, CA and used Google Maps to track out my proposal plan. A few days after Christmas, I asked Meghan’s mom to get her nails done (from me) for Christmas. Meg got a little suspicious but how else was I able to accomplish this without her getting suspicious? On Dec. 29th, with the ring secured in my travel bag, I helped Meghan drive to San Diego from Indiana. I checked my bag any chance I could while Meghan was away to make sure the ring was still there. We arrived in San Diego on New Year’s Eve. While Meghan was working on Thursday and Friday, I had time to survey the area and finalize my proposal plans. The weekend was upon us…

On Friday (Jan. 3), Meghan and I drove to our AirBnB in La Jolla. My plan was to propose on Saturday. Luckily Meghan and I are both planners so putting together a complete itinerary for a weekend is not unusual – and helps when proposing to your girlfriend. On Saturday, I told Meghan that we had a dinner reservation at a restaurant in La Jolla overlooking the ocean. That Saturday morning, we went out on a boat with my cousin, Kevin, his wife Tiffany and daughter Karina. Without specifics, I told Kevin we had an early dinner reservation in La Jolla and had to be back by 2. Kevin drove us to Coronado bay for lunch via boat. He began talking about how the water was looking beautiful (it was) and we might be able to see a whale later in the afternoon. I started secretly panicking thinking we weren’t going to get back until late. Thankfully I was able to catch Kevin alone and I told him I was proposing to Meghan in about 5 hours. Kevin couldn’t have been happier and got us back to the dock at 2. We got to La Jolla and changed for dinner. We arrived at the La Jolla Cove at 4:15, sunset was at 4:45 and our dinner reservation (a short walk from the Cove) was at 5:30. Hoami (the photographer), a stranger to Meghan, arrived at the Cove at 4:30 and played the role of a tourist. She spent 10 minutes finding the best picture for a photograph. Once Hoami found the spot, she walked over to us to ask if we could take her picture. Hoami stood in the exact spot that Meghan and I were to be for the proposal. I took Hoami’s photo and then asked if she could take a picture of Meghan and I with my phone. Hoami took some photos with my phone, pocketed my phone (with a slight panic from Meghan) and began taking photos with her camera. As Hoami switched her camera, I looked at Meghan, said a few words and dropped down on one knee. Hoami was kind enough to capture the moment as well as some photos after the proposal. Double bonus - Meghan and I always have a reason to visit San Diego.

Austin was a sophomore at the University of Evansville, living with Josh Hobson on the second floor of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house. During the first week of school, SigEp had a small gathering to get to know freshmen that were new on campus. Austin and Josh were hanging out in their room when Meghan and a few of her friends walked by (and past their room) in the hallway. Austin and Meghan connected a few moments later. Meghan explained to Austin that her dad went to UE and is a member of SigEp, and her mom was a SigEp sweetheart during the same years. She went to show Austin her mom and dad on one of the photo composites that were hanging on the wall outside Austin’s room. Austin was immediately impressed with the direct connection to the fraternity and introduced Meghan and her friends to the rest of the guys in the house. Austin and Meghan began dating in the spring semester of 2015 when Austin returned to campus from a yearlong internship co-op program away from UE. Austin and Meghan’s love quickly grew into something special. They spent summer trips to Cincinnati, Kansas City, St. Louis and Indianapolis. During Austin's senior year, he lavaliered Meghan and gave her the same SigEp sweetheart pin that John (Meghan's dad) gave Jill (Meghan's mom) during their college years. Meghan’s organization and ability to visualize plans matches well with Austin’s hands-on and practical approach. Their similar love for dogs, an active lifestyle and planning trips strongly ties their relationship together.

Meghan and Austin’s shared love for dogs goes way back before they even met. When dating, it became apparent that a puppy was one of the first things the two wanted to buy together. Meghan and Austin routinely visited dog adoption events at Pet Smart and Meghan even helped foster a dog her and her roommates found roaming the streets. Meghan constantly tried to convince Austin to get a dog with her, but Austin (the practical one) told her they should probably wait until both graduate college. One summer while Meghan was in PT school, she was enjoying mimosas (maybe a few too many) during a weekend brunch with friends in Chicago. One of Meghan’s best friends, Courtney, sent Meghan a message the same morning that there were three puppies available in Texas that her family was looking to find a home for. The mimosas may or may not have gotten to Meghan in this moment. Meghan called Austin and told him all about the available puppies. Austin told Meghan that he was on board with adopting the puppy with one caveat. Since Austin was still living with his parents at the time (and two other dogs), he told Meghan he could help her pay for bills but could not physically watch the pup at his parents’ house. Since Meghan was living with her parents that summer, Austin then told her she needed to call her parents to make sure she could keep a puppy there for a few months until she moved back to Evansville for school. Apparently the mimosas definitely got the best of Meghan, because she forgot to call her parents to ask for their permission and instead told Courtney that we would adopt one of the puppies. The rest is history. All in all – Maya got off to a rocky start with Meghan and Austin, but in the end, Austin ended up buying a house in St. Louis and Maya currently is happier than ever chasing (and catching) bunnies and squirrels in a St. Louis back yard.