We met in biology class on the first day freshman year of high school! We ate lunch together with our mutual friends almost every day, and it wasn’t long before we became best friends ourselves - we even made Tshirts reading "The Wolfpack" as proof! By junior year, I knew Tyler liked me a little more than just a friend, but with a full schedule filled with travel volleyball, I wasn’t interested in dating him or anyone else at the time... that and the fact he was still about 5 inches shorter than me! Senior year came around, and Ty was still persistent! I finally gave him a chance, and I’m sure glad I did. We attended homecoming and prom together, graduated high school together, and started school at the best university in the country (Michigan State - Go Spartans!!!!) together. After splitting up for a couple years to grow up and live our college lives on our own, Tyler and I found our way back to each other our senior year. I remember one of the first few times we started seeing each other again, Tyler said to me, "If we get back together it will be for good", and the rest is history!

After months of planning, some logistical issues, and a global pandemic, I finally picked out a ring I knew she would love! Conversations had, blessings given, and now it was finally time. Living in Colorado lent the opportunity to find a scenic backdrop to pop the question - Boulder Falls in downtown Boulder, CO. Now all that was left to do was find a photographer and get Katie to Boulder without raising any suspicions. Since we moved to CO during the pandemic, most things were shut down. It wasn't hard to convince Katie that we should spend a day in Boulder! We could walk around downtown, visit some breweries, and start it all off with brunch - she loves breakfast food! I had the plan, photographer, the ring - everything looked great. The day before I was set to propose, I checked the Boulder Falls website to see that it now read "Closed to the Public." Panic immediately set in, and my stress level went through the roof. After a few hours (and many calls to my mom) I calmed down enough to pick a new spot - still in Boulder. That entire day before, Katie kept asking if I was okay, as I was noticeably not myself. I lied and said I didn’t sleep well to cover my tracks! The morning of, I told Katie we had to leave early to get to our brunch reservations (which did not exist)! We arrived a bit early to what she thought was our reservation time, so I asked if she wanted to walk through the park downtown to kill some time. We headed towards the park, I saw the photographer, gave him the nod, and walked Katie over to the side of the stream that runs through the park. Nervous as could be, I worked up the courage to finally ask the question! Katie was over the moon and so excited! It worked out exactly how it was supposed to! Although she was beyond happy to be engaged, within 10 minutes of popping the question, she asked me about brunch. I explained my ploy. While she was bummed there were no reservations, we did get brunch eventually that morning, as an engaged couple!