In 2011 Amy and Matt both transferred to University of Illinois and were randomly placed on a dorm floor for all transfer students. With the lack of football to cheer for that fall (or any fall since that time), the students on the floor turned to each other to fill the time usually spent tailgating. From Halloween to Unofficial, we grew as friends until the school year started coming to an end. Over Spring Break Matt made the big trek from Crystal Lake to Wheaton to visit for a day, when Amy's best friend Katie had to find an excuse to come over to see "that boy you like" and give her stamp of approval. Fast forward to the end of the school year, and Amy invited the die-hard Cubs fan Matt to a White Sox game, and when he said "yes" she knew it was serious. After surviving wearing a White Sox shirt and 'cheering' them on for a solid 6 hours, Matt asked Amy out in the only way Matt can... "Do you maybe want to hang out sometime......like as a couple?"

Summer 2019 we took a trip to visit friends and see some sights in NYC. Before leaving on the trip, all of Amy's friends placed bets that this would be their engagement trip, but as she always expects the best out of people, Amy was convinced that there was no way Matt could pull off a surprise. She was so convinced, that after the first night in NYC with no proposal, she sent a mocking photo to her friends of her ring-less hand saying "Pay Up". Little did she know that Matt had been sweating over having the ring in his carry on luggage, and then in his pocket as they walked around the city. The next day we walked Central Park, with Matt continuously looking for the "perfect picnic spot" while Amy was becoming hangry for her sandwich. After much debate about when they could finally eat, Matt finally relented to let Amy eat while nervously staring his sandwich. When she asked "are you going to eat that?", Matt dropped to one knee, romantically announced "This is not a joke. This is happening for real. Do you want to hang out some time... as a married couple?" Sandwiches forgotten, Amy said "YES!" and the planning began.