Meredith and Sam met at the La Playette Bar on the first night of EAMSAK (Eighteenth Annual Mandatory Senior Appreciation Kegger) during their senior year. It was a Monday night, and as Meredith arrived at the La with a friend, she sat down at a random high top table. After sitting down, Meredith heard "You know what sucks? I had to cut my long hair for a job interview while I was home." She looked over and saw Sam. They hit it off and spent the evening talking. Sam forgot to ask for Meredith's number at the end of the night though, so Meredith had to track down one of his friends so she could talk to him again. The next 40 days of EAMSAK were spent getting to know each other, but also knowing that after graduation they would be parting ways. Neither Sam nor Meredith wanted a long-distance relationship (Sam in South Dakota and Meredith in Washington, D.C.), but neither of them wanted to say goodbye. On the night before Sam left for DIII Golf Nationals, they decided to give long-distance a shot. The next year and half was filled with trips back and forth to see each other, hours of FaceTime calls, and missing each other. Meredith soon realized that D.C. was not for her and decided to move back to the Midwest after her lease was up. In July 2019, Sam flew to D.C. to help Meredith pack up and drive a rental truck to South Dakota. While having some photos taken by the monuments, Sam popped the question at the Jefferson Memorial and Meredith said yes! After 5 months of being engaged Sam and Meredith were finally able to secure a wedding date at the St. John's Abbey, and have been counting down the days ever since.