In the summer of 2018, Christopher and I studied abroad in Hangzhou, China. Before we started our adventures in China, we had preparation meetings with the professors. Both of us missed one of these meetings, so we had another one with just us and the program manager. After the meeting, we began talking and Christopher walked me all the way home, even though it was well out of his way. During China, we became friends, and we remained friends throughout our Junior year of College at UW-Madison.

In our second semester of our Junior year, Christopher asked if I would join him golfing at a driving range. I thought this was a first date because it was just him and I, and he paid for my rounds of golf. A few days later, I returned the favor by cooking Christopher dinner. I cooked him a fancy three course meal, including bananas foster for dessert. Somehow, he did not realize that these were dates, even though it was obvious I had a crush on him.

Months went by after our dinner date, with no more "dates." We remained friends and talked a lot throughout the semester. Right before I was about to start an internship in a different city, Christopher struck-up the nerve to ask me out to dinner. This time as an official date. I had started to lose hope considering the amount of time that had lapsed since our initial "dates." He actually had a crush on me since China, and we continued to date for 2.5 years.

We were visiting his parents in Minneapolis just before Christmas, and we all went to a live radio production of "It's a Wonderful Life." After the show, we went back to Christopher's parents' house and decided to get pictures in front of their outdoor Christmas tree. When his dad started taking pictures, the lights of the tree turned off, and a spotlight turned on. That spotlight focused on a ringing bell, which was holding my engagement ring. Christopher took the ring, got down on one knee, and popped the question! After I said yes, fireworks exploded from behind the tree. You can watch the proposal by copying this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkMcxptku2M