We really should get paid by that elderly eHarmony guy for promoting his services, but anyways - here goes! Michelle and Colin met shortly after Colin returned from Army service to Alaska in 2015, where Michelle was teaching and living in rural, western Alaska. As they were both looking to meet new people, they happened to join eHarmony and met in the spring of 2015. As Michelle traveled to Anchorage to return home to Chicago for the summers, they started things off with a walk around Alaska Pacific University's "dog trail", where Michelle's lovely pup, Penelope, was stalked by a precocious German Shepherd named Max. The two (no, three of them) hit it off, and saw each other anytime the other was passing through, spending time together in the fall, Christmas and New Years; Colin eventually traveled to Scammon Bay to experience the beauty of the Yupik culture and life in the village, and they've been together ever since. The two survived a LOT of time apart, as Colin deployed to Afghanistan for a second time in 2016-2017. Once he returned, the two of them realized that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together (along with Penelope, of course), and Colin "made it official" on top of Alyeska Resort on September 27, 2017, proposing in the rain and mud after an intense hike! Being Colin, they insisted on celebrating Oktoberfest at the resort that night, donning their lederhosen and dirndls for a night of carousing and fun.