Gavin's version: We met at college sometime in early september of 2023, initially while swing dancing and then later had a conversation about her homework back at my house (open-invite hangout after swing dancing ended). I thought she was cute right away, which wasn't my concious reason for approaching her but likely played a part. Later saw her at church service and a couple weeks later ended up telling some of my fellas that I liked her but still wanted to get to know her more, so we kept hanging out in groups as friends. We started texting a lot during winter break of that year after she wished me a merry christmas and asked her on our first date not long after we got back to Moscow following winter break. Natalie's version: I absolutely LOVE to tell this story. Soon after I started school at U of I, I joined a collegiate church called Resonate, where Gavin was already a member and part of the ever-growing community. We met initially at a swing dancing event on the campus basketball courts close to the beginning of the school year (which was my first time learning to swing dance), and Gavin asked me to dance and was gracious with my lack of skill. I ended up at his house (the local hangout spot) due to peer pressure of the friends I had gone with, and ended up chatting with Gavin while scrambling to finish my homework due at midnight. I had thought he was cute but didn't think much of it as I wanted to focus on my school and thought it would be crazy for me to like anyone so soon after being introduced to all these people. Not long after, I got hints and was more or less told Gavin had a crush on me, where I began to consider him more thoughtfully. After spending more and more time together, I realized I reciprocated his feelings and knew I wanted to date him. The winter break of that first semester, I sent a merry Christmas text to him (with the help of my mom hitting the send button), where we proceeded to talk every day the rest of the break. Seeing each other after break over was a little strange at first, but soon after, he asked me on a date, and the rest is history.

Picture this: Gavin and Natalie are approaching graduation, trying to figure out their next moves, and Gavin has accepted a job in Natalie's hometown of Tri-Cities, WA. They had been talking about marriage, and engagement for a little while and Natalie was starting to get suspicious. Little did Natalie know, Gavin ordered an engagement ring more than 6 months prior. Gavin began throwing out red herrings, talking about nice sunset walks at certain times in upcoming days. On Saturday, May 3rd our two lovebirds went on a nice date up in Coeur d' Alene on the water, and spontaneously (not) decided to go on a walk at Tubbs Hill, a hiking area and large park right in downtown CDA. Natalie was wearing sandals, and the hiking trail was rockier than Gavin remembered, leaving Nat uncomfortable and Gavin stressed that Natalie wouldn't make it to the end of the hike. Thankfully, soon after the start, a message in a bottle had washed up on the beach that told of a surprise out on the point. The two of them walked the rest of the way while Gavin talked about the things he admired about Natalie and why he wanted to spend his life loving her. At the point, Gavin got down on one knee on a picnic blanket to a resounding yes. Shoutout to the staging crew of: Tyler DeBlauw (packmule/crowd chaser) and Joclynn Howell (photographer)