They say to marry your best friend and that's exactly what we plan to do! It all began as freshmen at Iowa State University in 2016. Ryan and Sarah both ended up joining the ISU fencing club, but for very different reasons. Ryan could actually fence and Sarah was there to try something new. We became friends and were in and out of each others lives for our time at ISU. Most notably we took the Wine and Spirits course senior year together. After graduating, the two of us parted ways. Sarah left to pursue her Master of Science in Fargo, North Dakota, and Ryan moved back to Huntsville, Alabama, where he worked for a year before adding his own Master of Science journey on top of it. We would periodically check in on each other to make sure we were both surviving our respective programs. Fast forward and Sarah moves back to Iowa in 2022, a couple months before Ryan travels back to ISU for the rededication of his fraternity's house. We meet up for dinner, and as we are leaving the restaurant the waiter says to have a wonderful rest our evening on our date. To which we look at each other and laugh because its not a date. But Sarah does say, "You know, I wouldn't mind if this was one." Which apparently went right over Ryan's head. And they part ways and nothing happens. A couple months later in August, the two of us are planning a trip for Sarah to come down to visit Ryan in Alabama. Keep in mind, this trip was planned with nothing in mind besides two friends getting together. That is until Sarah texts Ryan asking if he'd want to go on a date while she was down visiting, but that she totally understood if he wasn't interested and they could forget about it and just remain friends. Clearly Ryan liked the idea and the two of us went on our first date in December. If you've been paying attention, the two of us were friends for 7 years before we went on our first date. And look where we are now just over a year later! Getting married!