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Emily and Cody first met on Bumble, went on two good dates and... the rest is history, right? Not quite. They didn't speak again for another year and a half after that, but we won't let those details muck up their love story. In the interim, Cody always felt if there was anyone out there on the apps for him, it was Emily. Imagine his surprise when he came across her on Hinge all those months later. It was a Sunday night and by the time Cody decided to shoot his shot for a second chance, the app reloaded and Emily disappeared. Cody spent the rest of the night filtering out many other options until he finally got back to Emily. On their second date Emily wanted another beer, but not a full one, so she proposed they split one into half beers. Cody hoped the offering of "next half beer on me?" would get her attention. Luckily it did. A second first date at Freshly Greek followed, with a nightcap at Sweet Frog of course. Cody, a big fan of gummies, but not a fan of gummies on froyo was dismayed when Emily added a couple to top off her dish. They sat down and Emily quickly removed the gummies, stating she liked gummies, just not on her froyo. Cody realized someone discovering a dessert hack before him might just be the one. Their first third date soon followed, but the planned mini golf outing hit a dead end when they arrived to find the course had been sold and was permanently closed. They ventured to a nearby restaurant instead, finding themselves in the midst of many groups who had shown up to play trivia. Given a blank paper and a pencil, they decided to join in, even naming their duo "First Third Date". When the host took their paper to calculate the score, he announced the team name as "Third First Date". An ominous sign or a mere slip of the tongue? Thankfully, it turned out to be the latter. Their relationship continued to evolve naturally and talks of marriage started to be become more frequent. They looked at rings together so Emily could decide what she did and didn't like. Once she had settled on her preferred style, Cody set out to craft the perfect ring. He worked with Chrissy at Made Jewelry in West Reading and she did just that for him. Now, it was time to plan the proposal. Cody had only told his dad of his plans. After showing him the ring, his dad asked when he planned to pop the question. Cody told him he was thinking sometime around Thanksgiving, which was about a month away. His dad, who was on hospice but still doing fairly well at this point, proclaimed in typical Russ fashion, "I might be dead by then!" Cody remained true to his plan though and decided to propose on the day before Thanksgiving, which was also the day before he turned 40. Cody's mom passed away before he met Emily. While she was sick and after she passed, he would often take long walks, stopping at a particular bench overlooking a field in the Wyomissing Park system along the way. It became an almost spiritual spot for him. Emily had requested a private proposal, so Cody thought this would be the perfect place for it. He told his mom the time and date, inviting her to stop by then. Cody proposed taking a long walk that day and Emily agreed. Cody had placed the ring in a vest pocket, finding it was the only thing he could wear that wouldn't show the ring box. He then "remembered" this vest was in his closet, threw it on, and off they went. Early in the walk, Emily told Cody she wouldn't post him on Instagram until he proposed. Little did she know, she only had to wait another mile or two. As they approached the bench where Cody intended to pop the question, they realized a few deer were hanging around the area. Cody explained how meaningful this spot was and why he decided to ask her here. Until then, Emily had no idea she was about to get engaged. After an emotional ask and answer, one of the deer galloped away. Cody likes to think that his Mom made it after all.