Samuel and I shared a number of classes together freshman year and we became distant friends. He was a friendly face who slowly became a great friend. But that's it. I sent Sam a Snapchat on his 15th birthday and we began talking every day. Throughout our Sophomore year Samuel and I became best friends but never "like liked" each other at the same time. No matter what happened, I always went to Samuel first. Finally, toward the end of Summer 2017, my mom forced me to hang out with "that Samuel kid" that I was always talking to and about. Our Junior year began, and we again shared most of our academic classes together. During the school day, anyone could almost always find us together. We each vehemently denied any sort of romantic interest to those who asked. But everyone else clearly saw what I was simply denying. Finally, on Friday, October 13th, Samuel asked if I would be his girlfriend...he confessed he had waited until that date specifically because it would be "funny". As it turns out, the rest is history:)

I've known I was going to marry Mikella for quite a while, but I made it seriously known almost a year before I proposed. My parents approved in December 2020 and I quickly got the blessing from her parents in March 2021, then we were off to planning the perfect proposal. Over the next five months, we dutifully kept the secret from Mikella while we planned where it would take place. Okoboji, Iowa has been an annual vacation spot for Mikella her entire life, so naturally I wanted to propose to her at her favorite place on earth. After lots of planning, we were all set for a proposal at Okoboji #2, a new tradition Christian and Mikella had taken on. The plan was in motion as I lead Mikella out onto the dock we had frequented over the last 4 years and said, "Let's take a picture!" She obliged but was a little upset with the sun in her eyes and the belief that we had screwed up our dinner reservations. Everything was in place as I told her to look behind us. She turned and saw her parents, my parents and the biggest surprise, her Schiller grandparents; it didn't take long for her to realize what was happening and burst into tears. Before either of us knew it, I was on one knee. It seemed like everyone in the resort was on their balconies or on the surrounding docks cheering for us! Our best witness was a shirtless guy on a paddle boat doing laps around our dock just a few feet away! Not hearing or seeing any response from Mikella, her dad yelled, "did she say yes?!" and through tears and sniffles, she did in fact say yes.