WELCOME TO OUR FOREVER

The short version: Abby and Shane met while they both were attending Edgewood College. They didn't start dating until a few years after college when they matched on a dating app. The REAL story: Shane and Abby first met on April 8th, 2015. At this time, they both were attending Edgewood College. On this day, Abby went out for her friend, Erika's, 21st birthday. After a (slightly too) fun evening, Abby and Erika returned to Erika's dorm room. In the living room of the dorm Erika's roommate was hanging out with Shane. Abby and Shane had never met before this moment. Abby made herself comfortable to go to sleep on the futon, but at some point the tequila shots she had taken got the best of her. When she started getting sick, Shane got up and held her hair and helped her to the bathroom. A true chivalrous gentleman! After that evening, Shane and Abby would see each other occasionally on campus and would wave, but never truly crossed paths again. Fast forward 4 and a half years, Abby and Shane matched on a dating app in October 2019. As Abby likes to tell the story, she matched with Shane because she wanted to laugh about what a funny situation that had been back in 2015 - she never thought they would go on a date or do anything more than exchange a few messages reminiscing. However, as Shane likes to tell the story, he had other plans. He very quickly asked Abby on a date to Bailey's Run Winery, and Abby could hardly say no to a winery. They had their first date on October 13th, 2019 and it was the best first date either of them had ever had. The rest is history.

Shane proposed to Abby on December 11th, 2021. Shane had been planning this proposal for months. Abby had ABSOLUTELY NO idea. Shane and Abby had plans to meet Shane's family in Galena, IL for a candle-lit festival. Shane's family goes to this event every year. During the evening, Shane told Abby he wanted to go see Christmas carolers in the park, so they left Shane's family with plans to meet them later on at dinner. When they arrived to the park, they began walking on the candle-lit sidewalks while listening to Christmas carols. Shane got down on one knee and Abby was so beyond shocked that she screamed "What the heck! Are you proposing?!?". Much to Abby's surprise, her cousin, Zoe, was hiding and began taking pictures of the whole thing. Abby finally said yes after screaming and crying for awhile. After the proposal, they met Shane's family at the restaurant for dinner, and Abby was once again surprised when her parents and older sister, Stacy, were also waiting for her in the restaurant. It was a truly magical night.