We met in January 2016 when we were both doing a full-time internship in Minneapolis. Danielle was under the impression that between her and Mike, only one would be offered a job for after they graduated college. She spent the first few weeks of their internship trying to outshine Mike, always appearing as focused and busy with work as possible. Once informed that they’d both get the job, Danielle came clean that she rarely had any actual work to do. We spent the next few months getting to know one another, playing hangman to pass the time, and bonding over our love for company-paid-for happy hours. In April 2016, our internship ended and we went our separate ways - Mike back to Madison, and Danielle back to UND. Nearly two years later, we started working together again in January 2018.

Over time, our friendship started to develop into something more. Mike owed Danielle a drink after losing a bet that they had made during a St. Paul Saints game work outing, and used this as his opportunity to ask her to go on a date. We went to 4 Bells in Loring Park, where we chatted for hours before heading to a second bar that night. We continued going on dates throughout the fall, and made things “official” in January of 2020.

On the three year anniversary of our first date, Mike planned the most special propsal. We were on a trip to Italy, heading from Rome to the Amalfi Coast that morning. He informed me that we were no longer staying at the place we had initially booked for the night, and instead brought us to a beautiful boutique hotel in Positano. He proposed on the terrace of our hotel at sunset, and had a photographer there to capture it all. Along with the photographer, we went to a few more scenic spots throughout Positano and watched the sun go down from the beach. When we got back to our hotel, there was a private dinner set up for us on our balcony. It was a day full of surprises that I will never forget, and I’m so lucky to have such a thoughtful fiancé (who feels that this proposal gets him off the hook for having to do any sort of planning in the future).