Samuel and Alexandra met during the sweet, sweet summer of 2016! During this summer Alex was currently living on the east side with her family and Sam was living with "the boys" of 1140 Jackson and had just turned 21. One weekend in June, Alex came up to GR, she and her friends planned to attend a “Jungle" themed party. After thrifting around for the perfect goofy jungle outfits, Alex and her friends were ready to party! Upon arriving, Alex and her friends were enthralled by all the decorations, lights, and people. As they looked around the house laughing at the many costumes of different party goers, Alex noticed a man of great stature standing by the pong table talking with friends. Before Alex had the opportunity to think, she noticed her feet where moving in his direction. As she approached him the only words to come to mind were, "who's got next game?". Thankfully Sam was a real talker; he exclaimed, "HI, I AM SAM!" They both laughed and the rest was history. They had their first date at Founders, second at John Ball Zoo, and after a couple Friday night Griffins games Sam asked Alex to be his girlfriend on 11/11/16 on the top floor of J. Gardella's. By this point Alex had learned quite a few things about Sam. She knew he was Dutch, tall & handsome, had a good sense of humor, outstanding dance moves, leisurely drank milk, he could fit 2 hotdogs in the pocket of almost all of his button up shirts, and that she desperately wanted to him to be her boyfriend too! Who knew a silly Jungle party could bring two people together forever?

Alex and Amy used to go Up North to the Gaylord Cottage almost every summer since the end of high school, eventually these trips turned into "Couples Retreats"! Amy, Alex, and Madison began planning the 2020 Couples Retreat in May, the weekend was set for August 7th-9th! As the trip grew closer Alex tried to convince Sam to bail on the weekend getaway, she claimed she was too tired to go; truthfully, Alex did not want to go kayaking. No matter how much Alex begged Sam, he insisted they were going and furthermore they were going kayaking. The morning of August 7th, Alex started getting really excited to see her friends, catch frogs, hammock, fish, and maybe even kayak. When Sam and Alex arrived at the cottage, no one was home, they quickly unpacked, set up their hammocks and swayed back and forth as the sun beat down on them together. The morning of August 8th, everyone began getting ready for the 4-hour kayak trip, Alex felt a knot in her stomach as everyone expressed their excitement. As they approached the Sturgeon River, Alex saw how fast it flowed and knot in her stomach grew larger! She got in her kayak and within 10 minutes got stuck on a log and began crying, at this moment she was certain it was the worst day ever. Sam began coaching Alex off the log and into a good mood as she continued to verbalize how much she hated kayaking in between loud sobs! Halfway through the trip, Alex fears subsided, she was having a great time, and finally it was time for lunch! They found a lovely spot to stop on the side of the river where they all parked their kayaks. Michael began handing out sandwiches and Sam stood behind Alex, in what she thought was the sandwich line, he softly called her name. She turned around and there Sam was, on one knee and promising her a forever she couldn't say no to! Turns out that was the best kayak trip of their lives!