Her side: After dealing with my dating stories for several years, my dear friend and former coworker, Kristen Korona, said she had a "good guy" for me to meet who was moving to Kansas City from Los Angeles to be closer to family. She thought we would be a good match, and I happily gave her the go-ahead to give this mystery man my number. Several months later, I received a text from Austin (check out the screenshot in the "photos" tab), and we texted for a few days before agreeing to meet for drinks at SoT in Kansas City. I had a work happy hour prior to our date, so I may or may not have shown up a little tipsy and without an ID. Austin didn't skip a beat - he was so patient and sweet - and I knew I had finally met a good one. His side: As I decided to move back to the Midwest from Los Angeles in 2018, my friend Korona let me know that she had somebody she thought would be great for me to meet if I were ever up for it. After a few early dates in KC, I decided to take her up on the offer. I gave Mishelle my best charm with a message and we set a date to get cocktails. My eyes lit up as I watched Mishelle walk into the bar, and after about five minutes my head and heart let me know this was different.

Her side: Celebrating a (30+) birthday in a pandemic was not something I was looking forward to, but Austin was determined to make it special by planning a road trip to Colorado. Other than preparing to sleep in the jeep and to not have showers, I had no idea what we were doing. After a sleepless first night, we got up at 5:30 am to watch the "sun rise over the mountains"... keep in mind the sun had already risen so this concept was weird to me but I was trying to be positive. It was so cold that I refused to change out of my PJs, despite Austin recommending I change for a hike after the sunrise. When we got to the mountains, I saw a woman paddle boarding and I just kept thinking she was crazy to be out in the water by herself in such cold temps. We walked around a little bit, then Austin suggested we get closer to the water. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He made me the happiest girl in the world that morning, and I cannot wait for our future together. His side: After moving in together right as the COVID-19 pandemic begun to rock all of our worlds, Mishelle and I spent the next several months together 24/7 in tight quarters. Our relationship not only continued to work, but thrived and I enjoyed spending every second of those months with her. I HAD to marry her. After several months of not leaving Kansas City, I wanted to take Mishelle out of the city for her birthday. I bought a mattress for the Jeep and planned a trip to the Colorado mountains. Wasting no time, I had the ring in my pocket the first morning as we headed for a morning hike and to “watch the sunrise”. We walked towards the water in the valley of the mountains, just the two of us, and I let her know how that different feeling, ended up being right.