We're Getting Married!

We both went to Marquette University and were part of the concert band together freshman year. The band traveled to Lexington, KY for the NCAA tournament with the basketball team that year, so we were familiar with each other. But it wasn't until sophomore year that we started actually doing things together. During first semester sophomore year we would usually be eating in the same dining hall, and I sat by myself since all of my friends were busy at the time. But Miranda saw me sitting by myself and invited me over to sit by her and her friends. That's right everyone, she made the first move. Miranda was very excited when she found out we were both staying at school for fall break that year. She asked me if I wanted to hang out with her, and of course I did, but I didn't think we actually would. I was never going to be brave enough to ask. But sure enough she was serious, and when she got bored she sent me a message asking if I wanted to do anything (She could have sent me a text but when I asked for her number that day she said she'd just Facebook message me. Ouch). Later that weekend we planned a movie day. I figured we'd watch one or two maybe and Miranda says that she assumed the same, but we ended up watching 4 movies and talking the entire day, even going out for a casual dinner afterward. We did just about everything together after that, but I still hadn't asked her to be my girlfriend. But as I was home for Thanksgiving break I realized that I'd have to be pretty dumb to not ask this gorgeous girl out officially, and so I did. And we couldn't be happier.

I had been planning a trip to Grand Marais, just the two of us, for a very long time. My grandparents on my dad's side owned a house up there for the first half of my life, so I have very positive memories. It's my favorite place in the entire world, so I wanted it to be as special for Miranda as it is for me. When we had first met, she had never been north of Duluth, and I promised to do something about that. The trip finally happened this past May (2017). I had everything planned down to the half day and knew exactly what I wanted to do and show Miranda. So she got to just sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride while I stressed about everything going perfectly. A couple days into the trip we took a hike at Cascade State Park to Lookout Mountain. It was a hike I was familiar with and knew it was going to be a good payoff. I had the ring box hidden in the toe of my hiking boot beforehand and somehow I got it to my pocket secretly. The hike almost killed Miranda but we finally got to the top. Miranda says the view was AMAZING and I couldn't agree more. The leaves weren't all back on the trees, so you could see for miles, even further than usual. I couldn't decide the right place to ask her, since I didn't want to get down on one knee near a rock or tree root and end up with me or the ring tumbling down the cliff. I was also waiting because there were people around at first and I wanted to be alone since that would be less scary. So we decide to leave and as Miranda took a step towards the trail I knew I couldn't just let her leave so I grabbed her hand and got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Of course, she said yes!