Its finally happening!

Their love story begins with an unbreakable friendship. AJ and Shelby's best friend (Abby) had lockers right next to each other for years. Despite this, the pair had no idea who each other was. Eventually, they were placed within the same freshman year geometry class at Avon High School. Shelby would sneak to the back and grab homework advice from AJ. She would crack stupid jokes that AJ would laugh at, and a friendship was made. They traded phone numbers and began to hangout outside of school as friends. AJ lived right across the street from Shelby, and many walks around the block were taken together. The two realized how happy they were in each other's company, and on July 12, 2013, AJ (15) asked Shelby (14) to be his girlfriend. AJ attended all of Shelby's plays and musicals, and Shelby loved cheering AJ on from the rugby and football sidelines. The two graduated high school together, became Purdue boilermakers, and continue today living out their dreams as best friends.

On July 12th, 2020, the two celebrated their 7 year anniversary at West Lafayette, Indiana. They had been discussing marriage for a while, and Shelby suspected that day to be "THE day." AJ took Shelby to a u-pick flower farm, and they collected flowers to make bouquets. However- Shelby left ring-less *sad trumpet noise.* Afterwards, they went back to their Purdue apartment to prepare for a picnic on campus. Shelby noticed that AJ had been fiddling with her purse, and he REFUSED to let her wear it out on their date. The purse remained strapped across AJ's chest the whole time. "Either the ring is in my purse, or he has developed a sudden jealousy of my fashion accessories," Shelby thought. As they finished lunch- Shelby was getting more suspicious and AJ became increasingly giddy. They set off to take a walk around campus and Shelby accidentally spotted her friend, Allyson, hiding in the bushes. How interesting! Not weird at all... *wink.* Eventually, under the Purdue archway, AJ pulled out a hand-crafted ring box he had made with wood from his great grandfather's shop. You know the rest... of course she said yes. Shoutout to Allyson for capturing the moment on film. A hilarious proposal story fits the couple's energy perfectly.