Salann here! Before writing this, I asked Michael how he would describe the way we met. His first answer, "At the perfect time." Cute, huh?! His second answer, "You were the typical middle school girl who had a crush on her older brothers really good looking friend." For those of you that really know Michael, that response should not surprise you. Our love story started as not a love story at all. We met when we were in middle school/high school. Michael played football with my older brother, Zach, and I was friends with his younger sisters, Kara and Amber. Our paths crossed often since our towns were small and we shared a lot of the same friends. I remember thinking Michael was something special and well, he remembered thinking I was too tall for him. In fact, I used to be saved in his phone as, "Too Tall." Romantic, right? Fast forward many years and our paths crossed again. He came back to Wisconsin to visit his family and I was DD'ing for some friends. It had been many years since we had seen each other, and like many love stories start... we had zero interest in catching up. We made small talk when we had to, but nothing to write home about. Since we shared the same friend group, I offered to drive him and his friend home that evening. After getting home and filling my roommate in on the evening, I had gotten a text from a strange number thanking me for the ride home. I didn't reply.. The next morning I woke up to another text from the same number and this time I thought, "Why not?" We haven't stopped talking since.

Michael here! This story needs more than 2,000 characters to tell, but I'll do my best.. The rumors of Covid-19 started to stir, so was the discussion of us traveling to Mexico. This would have been my 3rd failed proposal plan, so I knew I needed to convince her. Eventually, she agreed to go. We landed, then got in the taxi with some margaritas. We were asked if it was going to be a special proposal trip by our taxi driver. I was a little mean about it to throw Salann off, but it ended up making her cry. Great start to the engagement weekend.. I wanted to propose at one of the Seven Wonders of the World, so we booked our excursion to Chichén Itzá. I wanted to propose right as the sun hit the pyramid. Sadly, I found out they do not do Sunrise Tours from our hotel. I tried booking a taxi, which would have been a 3-4 hour ride into the Mayan City. Understandably so, Salann shot that down. We ended up booking an afternoon tour instead, so I knew I still had a chance. Once we were in the park, they gave us an educational tour. When that ended, we had 1-hour to explore on our own. My admission ticket said 11,330.. I was freaking out. I took Salann everywhere but the actual pyramid hoping it would clear out. With 15 minutes left, Salann looked at me and said, "We only have 15 minutes left, are we ever going to take our picture in front of the pyramid?!" I quickly yelled, "That's it! No more excuses!"... to which she replied, "That was a really weird thing to say." I asked a couple to video me proposing. I quickly got the ring out and prepared myself for the moment I had been waiting for. I posed for the photo, then dropped to one knee and said, "Salann Paige Gilbert, since we are at one of the Seven Wonders of the World and YOU are the wonder to my world, I was wondering if you would marry me?" Salann panicked and quickly responded, "ARE YOU SURE?!".. then accidentally knocked the ring box out of my hand. She eventually said yes.. which has brought us here today.

You're right! We were. This is a question we have been getting often. With the uncertainty of our previously planned venue reopening and our unwillingness to wait until 2022 to finally be married to one another, we decided, "Why wait?!"