After a 14-hour drive down California into Mexico, Katie hopped out of the truck at Project Mexico. Blake was standing with friends nearby and recalls seeing Katie and immediately thinking "I need to muster up the courage to talk to her or I am going to regret it if I don't." Within ten minutes, Blake was sitting across from Katie introducing himself over our first dinner. Over the next week, despite curfew, we stayed up until 2:00, 3:00, or 4:00am getting to know each other. We discovered our passion for the Orthodox church, how much we value our friends and family, and shared life goals and travel dreams. By July 2, we both knew this was the person we were going to marry.

On the last night of Project Mexico, we stayed up until 4:00am. By the time all other campers went to bed, we were walking the property, laughing, and talking about how we will continue to stay in contact. Blake created two special moments that evening: (1) While leaning on one of the work trucks, he looked at Katie and said "to be clear, I want you to be my girlfriend." With a smile from Katie, he leaned in to kiss and continued the conversation and walking around. About two hours later, Blake looked up at Katie across one of the tables and very shockingly said "I didn't ask you, did I?!" To which Katie laughed and agreed. Blake promptly asked Katie to officially be his girlfriend. (2) Only a few hours later, when the sunrise about to break over the nearby ocean, Blake stood in front of Katie, grabbed her hands and said "when you know, you know, you know?" After a few second pause, blurted out the first "I love you." With a giggle and sweet reply of "thank you," Blake and Katie enjoyed the last few moments together before their naps and a 6:00am wake up call to leave Mexico. After two weeks dating long distance, and many late night phone calls for Blake on the east coast time zone, Katie was in Kansas for work. She moved her return flight and planned a stop over to Michigan. She moved her flight to Detroit up by one day, eager to tell Blake that she loved him, too. After three moved flights and 12 days together, she returned to California hopeful to move to Michigan before the end of the year.

At the end of August, Katie took a trip with her Thea Alex and best friend Alexis over her birthday and Labor Day Weekend. Blake got Thea Alex's phone number from Katie's mom and begun scheming. With matriarchal permission to join the trip, Blake surprised Katie in St. Thomas. This trip bonded the group forever. Among sharing meals and exploring the island, Blake and Katie spent a lot of time talking about the future and which location they should start their adventure: California or Michigan. Many pro and con lists later, Katie and Blake made with the decision to move Katie and her doggo Teddy across the country to Michigan. In September, the two went apartment hunting and Katie signed a lease. In October, Blake traveled out to CA on a one-way flight ready to drive Katie and Teddy across the country in a Ford Mustang. Four days, three hotels, and 2,332 miles later, we arrived safely in Jackson, MI, our new home.

Two weeks leading up to Christmas, Blake asked if we could drive Aunt Jackie home to Canada after our Christmas meal. Of course, Katie said yes. After a very fun morning at church in Albion, Katie and Blake drove out to Detroit. Blake had made fun of Katie for enjoying long walks after large meals and said we will not be doing that after Christmas. However, after getting Aunt Jackie settled in at home, we drove through the tunnel that spilled out into Downtown Detroit. Blake offered to walk around, now that we were in the area. Because downtown was so crowded, Katie asked if Belle Isle would have any cute Christmas lights to see. We drove over to find no lights, but a beautiful view of the Canada and Detroit skylines. We walked around and reminisced over the last six months. While Katie was struggling to take a good picture of the skyline, she heard Blake’s shaking, sweet voice from behind say "Katherine..." When she turned around, Blake was on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?" With a little yelp of joy, Katie said yes! Then we went downtown to celebrate together, take photos, and start calling our family.