A mutual friend of ours mentioned to each of us that she had someone that would be a great match (thanks Court!). Despite having recently accepted a job requiring Drake to move to the Chicago suburbs, he decided reaching out and asking Emma on a date was worth a shot. After five hours of getting to know each other over drinks at Obed & Isaac's, we both decided this was going to be a relationship worth pursuing. Unbeknownst to Drake, Emma was aware of the move and had still decided to give it all a chance, which made for a huge sigh of relief when Drake "broke the news". From that point, what followed could only be described as a crazy, adventurous and incredible 364 days together leading up to.....

Emma's early rules when it came to an engagement were: a private setting, having her nails done and at least a year of dating. With the rule being set at one year, Drake figured there's no way Emma would see it coming on day 364, right? Having all of the prerequisites in place, it came time for Drake to plan the actual day. Any of you that know him realize that flying by the seat of his pants is a staple of the Drake Taphorn planning process. Emma spent the morning running around with friends and family, very typical of our weekends home. Drake spent the morning attempting to figure out how a proposal at the place it all began (Obed & Isaac's patio) was going to be pulled off in the pouring rain. Through a variety of stories and excuses from Drake to Emma, we were able to meet at Obed & Isaac's that afternoon. The torrential down pour turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it cleared the way for an empty patio for Drake to get down on one knee and pop the question. We were able to soak in the moment just the two of us and enjoy a beer in the same seats that we sat in just 364 days before as strangers. The surprises didn't end there, as we ventured back to Morton where, to Emma's surprise, our friends and family in the area were waiting to celebrate with us. With as many challenges that were presented that day, we couldn't have imagined a more perfect way for our engagement to have unfolded. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you! See you in June!