Yes, you read that right, I (Muriel) was too scared to tell my family that I met Josh online. The story they got was that he came into Menards looking for a lightbulb and left with my number (as well as a light bulb, I was a seasoned Menards professional after all). I did help him with a lightbulb at Menards not long after our first date so the story wasn’t totally manufactured, I just fudged our timeline a little bit. In reality after a couple nightmare tinder dates and deciding to drop out of the University of Northern Iowa, I opened tinder to delete it so I could focus on working full time until my lease was up and I could move back home. Josh was the profile that tinder opened to. His photos were objectively terrible but his bio said he was mostly looking for friends as he was only in Cedar Falls for a music therapy internship. I decided a new friend wouldn’t be bad to have, he seemed to have a good sense of humor after all, and swiped right. Wouldn’t you know it was a match! We met in person for the first time in July of 2019, after about 3 weeks of online chatting so I was sure he probably wasn’t a serial killer. We went out for Huhot Mongolian grill, which turned into wandering through the world’s saddest mall, and then we went to get a bubble tea and wander around a strip mall exchanging jokes, bad puns, and life stories. We spent time with one another casually through the end of 2019 since we weren’t sure if Josh would be staying in Iowa once his internship ended. I was already head over heels for him and really hoping he would stay but was too shy to say so. Luckily for me when the internship concluded and Josh passed his boards he got a job in Cedar falls and so in February of 2020 we started officially dating (special thanks to a little push from Kaitlin who demanded to know why we weren’t official yet). My lease in Cedar Falls was up in April, and I moved home with a game plan to go back to school and so Josh and I started the long distance portion of our relationship. I would drive to Cedar Falls to spend a weekend with him twice a month. In 2021 Josh was offered a job in Mankato, Minnesota. When he told me about it I told him that if he took it I would have to stay in Iowa to finish the last year of my degree in Architectural Technology but I would follow him up after that if he decided to take the job. (Josh told his mom what I said, she reportedly told him then and there I was a keeper.) He took the job and my one hour, 50 mile each way commute to see him turned into a 4 hour, 250 mile each way road trip. I stuck to my every other week schedule as much as possible, and we made the best of it. We would find something fun to do every time I was there, found new favorite restaurants, and explored the area. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, many tears were shed on a Sunday afternoon as I packed up my duffel bag and got ready for another two weeks away but such is the reality of long distance. As my degree was coming to an end I started applying for jobs, both in Iowa and in Minnesota. No one from Iowa ever called to set up an interview but the first architecture company I applied to in Mankato hired me! I packed my things and moved into Josh’s apartment in May of 2022. In March of 2024 I told Josh I would like to be engaged in the next year and we started looking at rings. He proposed to me in our kitchen in November of that year with the London blue topaz and diamond ring that we picked out together. Over the years we’ve seen each other through lots of life. Surgeries, new jobs, new careers, new cars, weddings, vacations, and deaths. We’re so lucky to have each other and the love and support of all of you. Thanks for looking through this cliff notes version of our relationship, we can’t wait to celebrate the next chapter with you all!