We're Getting Hitched!

Flash back to the Fall of 2020, Blake was in Illinois for the annual North Central College Wrestling Golf Outing and Morgan was slinging drinks at the back bar of Gippers II Sports Bar & Restaurant in Coal City, IL. Morgan noticed Blake and immediately had to find out who he was, so she approached him at the bar with her quick wit and asked, "Who are you?" Blake replied, "I'm Blake," and ordered a Budweiser. They conversed as much as a bartender can with a full bar of patrons. Blake eventually asked Morgan to charge his phone behind the bar (this was obviously all a part of the grander plan to get her number). She plugged his phone in and they shared conversations throughout the night, including that Blake lived in Tampa, FL, and Morgan was headed that way after she graduated college. As it neared closing time, Morgan returned Blake's phone. He quickly told her that she had forgotten something. Morgan, very confused, asked "What's that?" Blake responded that she had forgotten to add her number to his phone. Surprised that he was not asking for her Snapchat, she gave him her phone number. Over the next few months, the two got to know each other through the phone. One night, after too many drinks at Bedrocks with Bri & Kenna, Morgan asked Blake to fly into Chicago for the weekend; and he did! This started a series of trips back and forth between Tampa and Chicago. Blake was an amazing host & tour guide, leading to Morgan falling in love with Tampa. Coincidentally Morgan learned that her last semester of college was going to be completely online. She took this as the perfect opportunity to leave IL and told her mom she was moving in two weeks. Blake flew into Chicago and spent Christmas with Morgan's family. After all of the festivities were over, the two packed up Morgan's Dodge Dart so they could start the road trip to Florida first thing in the morning. The 17+ hour drive and a detour through Gatlinburg TN, gave the two of them a unique opportunity to really get to know each other. Once they arrived in Tampa, Blake surprised Morgan with red roses (her favorite) and asked her to be his girlfriend on December 28, 2020. Looking back on the day they met, Blake & Morgan both remember the moment they saw the other. They were instantly drawn to each other, as if a force were pulling them together. It was like gravity.

Like a scene out of The Notebook, Blake got down on one knee in the pouring rain and asked Morgan to marry him. After nearly 3 years of wrestling tournaments, many Blackhawks vs Lighting games with the McDarbys, trying every taco joint they could in Tampa Bay, countless trips back to Illinois, and adopting a puppy, Morgan gave him the easiest yes of her entire life.