At Albion College it’s said that everyone knows everyone… except for Kyle and Rachael. All jokes aside, during our time at Albion, Kyle and I knew of each other, but never hung out until Barn Party 2018, my senior year. (Barn Party is an event put on by Albion’s graduating class and a local farm owner named Walt, who lets all Albion students party on his property once a year, at the end of the year… just Albion things!) At the party, a beautiful spring day, Kyle and I talked all afternoon. At some point close to sundown, we were making our way through a small crowd to find some mutual friends. Kyle reached his hand out behind him so that we wouldn’t get separated. Naturally, I grabbed his hand, but even after we escaped the commotion, we stayed holding hands. As many nights at Albion were, the rest of the evening was a whirlwind of fun, but the very next morning, May 5th, was my graduation. Immediately after the ceremony, I finished packing my apartment and moved back home to Shelby Township that same afternoon. Looking back, it was such an exciting and emotional last couple days at Albion. Parting ways with the school and friends I had come to love was bittersweet, but little did I know I had really just begun my next most important adventure. It only took a couple weeks of texting before Kyle asked me to meet at Café Zola in Ann Arbor, Michigan for our first date. If you ask either of us about this date, I guarantee you’ll see a smile! It was the best (and longest) date either of us had ever been on. We stayed at Café Zola for far too long before deciding to go to Frida Batidos for one more drink. After that, we walked around downtown for a while, then sat outside a late-night diner for coffee before I made the long drive home. And as they say… the rest is history! Kyle had one more year left at Albion after I graduated, so I got to visit him (and his new kitten, Luna) the following school year. Kyle graduated in the spring of 2019 and, during his gap year, we conquered long-distance before he was accepted to University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. Since Kyle needed to be near Detroit for school, in 2020, we moved out of our childhood homes (his in Chelsea, Michigan and mine in Shelby Township, Michigan) and into an apartment together in Auburn Hills. In the summer of 2021, we bought our condo in Washington, Michigan, where we currently live with our darling and hilarious Luna. This past fall, we went on a weekend trip to one of our favorite getaway places, Pentwater, Michigan. On October 22nd, 2022 Kyle proposed to me at sunset on the pier. We are getting married on Thursday, September 14th, 2023 in the company of our grandparents and immediate family members. The following Saturday, September 23rd, is our Wedding Celebration, the invitation that most likely brought you here. We’re so excited to embark on the journey of marriage and to officially start building our life together! If you have been a part of our story in any way, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the influence you have had on us through the years. We would not be the people we are today without you, and therefore truly have you all to thank for bringing us together. Thank you for being here. 🤍