2009-2015. Andrew and I originally met in middle school. Throughout middle school and part of highschool I had the biggest crush on Andrew. Of course Andrew was too cool to date a nerd like me. We graduated from Moorhead and I went to college in Minneapolis while Andrew stayed in Moorhead. At this point we left as acquaintances from highschool. 2015-2016. A year later I was coming home for a weekend of fishing with my dad. I texted Andrew asking where we should go fishing and we haven’t stopped talking to eachother since that day. I friend zoned him for almost a year and we became offical the summer before my sophomore year of college. Of course it was fitting for him to ask me to be his girlfriend while we were fishing. 2019. After years of long distance we finally ended back in Fargo with our dream jobs. We added the best four legged pups, Murphy and Gus, to our family. We continued our adventures of fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, and traveling. Feburary 19, 2020. I had planned a trip to Arizona with my best friend Chelsea. Andrew surprised me and booked a flight to join. We landed in Arizona and went straight to hiking at Madera Canyon. Right before sunset while overlooking the canyon Andrew got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. In typical Alyssa fashion I laughed and said yes. September 8, 2023. The day I get to continue spending the rest of my life with my best friend.

I have known Alyssa since middle school but we were not very close during that time. A year after we had both graduated from Moorhead High School I got a random text from Alyssa, she was just looking for a place for her and her dad to go fishing. So I gave her some ideas on where they could go and I thought that was going to be the end of the conversation, but clearly, it was not. We continued texting for quite a while and had some good conversations over the phone. Alyssa made it clear she didn't want to be in a relationship at the time but I could tell how truly special she was so I was very persistent. We hung out frequently in town and I also burnt a lot of gas driving to the U of M to see her. We spent a lot of time together over the span of six months to a year as friends, much of that time was spent outdoors hiking, camping, fishing, or ice skating. On May 26th of 2016, I asked Alyssa if she would be my girlfriend while fishing on one of our favorite lakes. Life since then has been great, we both finished school and got the jobs we wanted, bought a house, wound up with two golden retrievers that go by Murphy and Gus, and spent a lot of time at our lake lot on Pearl lake along with much more. I knew from early on that I wanted to marry Alyssa and I can not wait to see where this next part of life takes us.