I was in 7th grade and Jayden was in 9th grade when we first met. In a small town like Belle Plaine, people from different grades would often hang out on the weekends. When I started middle school I met some older people through sports which allowed me to sneak my way into Jayden’s friend group. We occasionally lifted weights together in group fashion after school in the winter, and this is where he caught my eye! I don’t remember who started flirting first, but looking back I definitely found any reason to be with Jayden and his friends down in that weight room. I’m pretty sure I only went there to flirt with him! Jayden eventually reached out to me online, but it didn’t take long for him to ask for my number. We "talked" for almost a full year and became friends before we started dating. I was in middle school and Jayden was in high school, which made things very complicated. We were both worried about our age gap so we kept things a secret for some time before publicly dating. Our parents and some friends knew, but word travels quick in a small town and we didn’t want the attention! After dating for some time, we parted in high school to learn more about ourselves. Our time apart only lasted for a year because I heavily pursued Jayden again (haha), but round two has lasted ever since I was 15 years old!

After many years of dating long distance throughout high school and college, Shannon began nursing school in Rapid City, South Dakota (8 hours away) from our hometown of Belle Plaine, Minnesota. I was working in and around the Twin Cities doing whatever I could to save up for an engagement ring to finally pop the big question after seven plus years together. I had visited her in the Black Hills a handful of times leading up to this moment and it had quickly become our favorite place to hike, bike, drink beer, and create memories. At this same point in time, I had just started doing photography and befriended a photographer from Sioux Falls named Bri. I told her all about my proposal idea and she just happened to need a second shooter for a wedding in Sturgis on the same weekend I planned to propose to Shannon. With a plan and cover up in place, we packed up her camper van and made the 330 mile trek to Rapid City. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and Shannon greeted us at her apartment for some much needed dinner and drinks. After catching up a bit, we all decided that a sunrise hike the following morning would be a fun idea… this was my chance! After not getting a wink of sleep, the next morning we took off from Shannon’s apartment in the darkness and headed west towards one of our favorite sunrise spots in the Black Hills. With coffee, blankets, and cameras in hand; this was shaping up to be just like any other hike we had done before so Shannon had no reason to believe a proposal was coming! As we reached the top of Boulder Hill the sky was the burning the deepest orange color I had ever seen and we laid our blankets down to take it all in. As the sun peaked over the horizon, I pulled the ring out of my pocket, got down on one knee, and asked Shannon to marry me… or at least I think I did. I completely blacked out for about 30 seconds while I was proposing but she still said YES and it was the best day of my life!