As Kyle and I sit at the Maui airport bar having a couple Mango Cart beers, we decided now was as good a time as any to add the story of how we met. It all began when Shantel decided to be an intramural sports supervisor at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. A mutual friend was made which led to Shantel following Kyle on Instagram. Years passed with a like of a post here and a comment on a story there. Eventually, Shantel said enough is a enough and told Kyle that she thought he was cute, they seemed to have a lot in common, and that she would like to get to know him better (putting the ball in Kyle's court). Kyle, who was at a friend's engagement party at the time, was so stunned by the message he had to sit down, reread it a couple of times, and lean to friends for advise on how to respond to such an unexpected reveal. After a bit of contemplation, Kyle responded with an equal admission of feelings (ball back in Shantel's court). Kyle and Shantel texted and facetimed for hours at a time over the next four weeks, getting to know each other better and ultimately deciding that the fit seemed to be pretty right. Almost exactly one month later, on 12/01/2022, it ended up working out best that Shantel would go visit Kyle first. She would go to his house on a Friday and then spend the rest of the weekend at a friend's house in Milwaukee.

It was your average chilly January week in Wisconsin and Kyle suggested we go out to our favorite spots for cocktails (Le Chateau) and dinner (Lovechild) that Saturday. He also brought up inviting friends which I'm sure he thought would be one or two people, but I ran with the suggestion and it ended up being about 10 of us that night which I'm sure added to the nerves I'm sure Kyle had. Thankfully, he had enlisted one of my best friends to help coordinate the big night and, like a good friend would, she ensured my nails were done and that they weren't an electric color and she was also messaging me the night of to ask what she should wear (when she was really just finding out what I planned to wear to ensure it was appropriate for the occasion). Going into the night I really didn't have any suspicions because as one gets closer to getting engaged there definitely were moments of "this is it!" and then it wasn't. So I had since stopped allowing myself to go through that loop. I did find it interesting that as we left the house, though, Kyle put on a ring that had belonged to his grandfather, saying "I just want him with me tonight", but still decided to not look into it too much. When we got to Le Chateau (an adorable French restaurant that looks like a little castle with turrets and a dungeon bar) and , our little sneaky helper was already there and she had tipped off the bartenders on the plan for the night. After all our friends had arrived and we all had a drink or two, my friend told Kyle and I that the bartender said we could give ourselves a tour of the castle's upper floors since no one was dining above the first floor that day, but that we had to go in small groups of no more than four. Again, I was electing to not get her hopes up and just thought it was a fortuitous opportunity. So Kyle and I, along with two of our good friends, ascended the castle, exploring each room and making it a little adventure. Then, on our way back down we entered one of the biggest rooms with a huge fireplace and Beauty and the Beast style bookshelves around the perimeter. My good girl friend asked to get a photo and where I thought the best place to do it would be (sneaky) and after we took a few, Kyle asked for one too. After a photo, Kyle got on one knee and said he didn't know where life would lead but that he knew he wanted it to be with me. The rest of the night was filled with smiles, hugs, and clinking glasses as we left Le Chateau to join the rest of our party who had left for Lovechild and were already seated at a large table when we arrived to share the news.