Tabitha's POV: It was the first semester of freshman year, and we were both sitting at the same table in PreCalc. Luke initially sat at the wrong table, but after realizing there was assigned seating, he joined our group. I went around asking everyone their names and what their majors were, and when I asked Luke, he told me he was studying Forestry. I’d never heard of that before, so naturally, I started asking a million questions about it. And, to be honest, I thought he was cute, so of course I had to know more about him! Luke's POV: It was the first class of my new college adventure! I was a little nervous but excited. I was living down in the "big city", and there were so many people! I happened to sit in the wrong seat (oops, I didn't know there was assigned seating). When I successfully found my seat, a cute girl was sitting across the table from me. Okay, now I'm VERY nervous. She struck up a conversation with me, and I was more than willing to chat.

Tabitha's POV: For our first date, Luke took me to the MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Arts) and to Buca di Beppo to eat. It all started with Luke picking me up at my dorm to drive to the MIA. I was so nervous the whole time, but I had such a nice time looking at all of the art with him. Then we went to Buca di Beppo and I got super nervous, so I barely ate anything. When I did finally take a bite, I ended up spilling on myself. How embarrassing, but it made for a good laugh! Afterward, we ended up walking around campus and riding the campus bus together chatting along the way. After our 7 hours together and wanting to keep talking with him, I knew he was going to be someone special. Luke's POV: I must have gone back and forth a million times trying to plan this first date. I just had to impress Tabitha cause I knew she was special. I decided on an art museum so we could talk and have something to look at if things got awkward. Spoiler alert: it never got awkward. I picked her up in my broken-down car (thank goodness she's not a car person), and we were off to the races! What followed was some of the best 7 hours of my life. We immediately hit it off. Goofing around and chatting like we've known each other for years. At the restaurant, we had some deeper conversations about values and found we significantly aligned in so many ways. We were trying not to get ahead of ourselves, but we knew we had stumbled upon something special. I couldn't say goodbye just yet, so we jumped on the campus bus and discussed why we chose our majors and a million other things. We were off to a fantastic start.

Tabitha's POV: I won’t lie, those summers were tough. Every time we had to say goodbye, I dreaded it. I hated being apart from Luke, I didn’t like it one bit. But we made the most of it. We spent hours on the phone, sometimes talking from 8 PM until almost 1 AM, due to the time difference. There were nights I would get barely five hours of sleep before work, but every minute of those conversations was totally worth it. I didn’t want to miss any second I could spend with Luke, even if it meant being exhausted the next day. Luke's POV: If anyone needs long-distance advice, just come to us! Thanks to my forestry internships and wildfire seasons in Alaska, Tabitha and I have spent every summer of our relationship apart. Although we spent so much time apart, our love for each other never wavered thanks to all of our diligent efforts. Gift boxes, funny photoshoots, and so so many hours on the phone kept us a daily part of each other's lives. Our crowning achievement is the 24+ hour phone call we pulled off last summer. I won't deny I absolutely hated long distance, but we don't have to worry about that anymore! We're looking forward to spending every summer together for the rest of our lives!

Tabitha's POV: It was a Sunday like any other, except for the fact that Luke had been sick the night before, so I didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. After mass, we started driving back to his parent's house when a snowstorm suddenly hit. It was a terrifying drive, but we finally made it there safely. The snowstorm was actually beautiful, so of course I wanted to go out and enjoy it! Despite Luke being sick, we went down to the river on his family’s property. We sat down for a bit, and he started talking about how much he loved me, but that didn’t seem strange, since he always tells me that. But then he stood up, I was all smiles and giggles! I was barely able to keep my excitement in check as he knelt down and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes!! Luke's POV: You guys have no idea what I went through trying to pick a date haha! I wanted it to align with a special date in Catholicism, but before she left for Christmas break. I ended up choosing the Immaculate Conception (a day that recognizes the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin). It just so happened that on that particular day, I was sick with a 101-degree fever. But as they say, fortune favors the bold! I was pacing around the room, waiting for them to get back from church, and praying the ibuprofen lasted long enough to propose. When they made it home, I whisked her away down to the bench by the river to watch the snow fall. We sat in silence for a moment before I launched into my (very stutter-filled) speech. When I finally got down to one knee, she was grinning from ear to ear, and I had long forgotten about my fever. It was the greatest moment of my life when she said yes!