Tristan and Melissa met through mutual friends in the summer of 2018. We became good friends the first time we met, and continued hanging out together throughout the summer. On September 19th, 2018, Tristan asked Melissa to be his girlfriend and they started their official relationship that day. During our senior years of high school, we both enjoyed watching each other play sports and participate in various activities. We enjoyed going to the Brandon Valley High School football championship game together (which they won!). We also were able to celebrate with each other as we graduated from high school. After high school, we spent another amazing summer together on our various adventures. Then we both decided we were going to attend South Dakota State University. We both headed off to college together in the fall of 2019. We were able to experience many jackrabbit football games, intramural activities, and sorority and fraternity events together, which made our time in college even better. We also met many new friends, which brought us even closer together and brought us an amazing friend group that we couldn't live without. Our lives changed a bit the next year when Melissa was accepted into the SDSU nursing program through the Sioux Falls site. We moved her down to Sioux Falls, while Tristan stayed in Brookings to continue his education. It was harder not being together throughout the next two years but we made the best of it! During college, we had the privilege of sharing a few trips together, which has made us the greatest travel partners! We were able to explore the Black Hills, Northern Minnesota, Colorado, and Kansas City multiple times, which taught us many important things about each other (like Melissa's terrible navigating skills & Tristan's road rage!!) We also spent many hot summer days at Lake Okoboji and fulfilled our love of ice cream dates. In 2022 we also reached another milestone together when Melissa graduated from nursing school and became an official Registered Nurse. A few weeks after graduating on September 10th 2022, Tristan took Melissa on a very nice date in Sioux Falls and then ended off the night with a surprise proposal! Melissa was so surprised and of course said yes. We both have dreamed of this moment forever and have always looked forward to sharing another step of life together. In the spring of 2023, yet again we were able to share another special moment with each other. Tristan accomplished a huge goal by graduating with a degree in communications and biology and began his Master's degree as well. We have spent five and half years together shaping our lives and love story into one that we are very proud of! We have truly found our forever life partners and we couldn't be happier! We can not wait to share our next milestone with each of you on May 18th, 2024!