Brandon and Shayla met through mutual friends back in 2017. Shayla's best friend was dating one of Brandon's buddies at the time, so they naturally became friends. A year later, that friendship turned into romance when Brandon asked Shayla out on their first date. Soon after, he asked her to become his girlfriend on Thanksgiving day on a bridge in his parents backyard. A couple years later Shayla ended up moving to Nebraska for dental school during the pandemic and that was the start of their long distance relationship. Brandon would drive 5 hours to visit Shayla during her 4 years in dental school. It is true when they say distance makes the heart grow fonder!

Brandon had the ring and proposal planned for 7 months. He took his little sister, Mackenzie, to go pick out the ring for Shayla at the beginning of 2022. His parents were planning a family reunion for that summer and Brandon knew he wanted to propose as soon as Shayla came home for her summer break. He blindfolded her and took her to the spot he first asked her to be his girlfriend in 2018, on a bridge in his parents backyard.