Alex and Naomi met during NSO week at Indiana Wesleyan University beginning their freshman year in the fall of 2017. They were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. Later they learned that we had Philosophy together. They were both dating other people at the time and so had no interest in each other. Alex invited Naomi over to his dorm a few times to play ping pong and then after the game, Naomi would leave. That was what sparked their friendship. Then during their sophomore year, they found themselves both single but Naomi still had no interest. It wasn't until Alex invited her to go get Taco Bell one night that Naomi's feelings changed. She asked if she could bring her roommate along to make things clear that it wasn't a date. She heard him sing along to the radio on the way there and instantly Naomi's feelings changed. They decided to stay close friends for another year until Alex asked Naomi to be his girlfriend in January 2020. And the rest is history...

Leading up to the proposal, Alex wasn't sure where he wanted to do it at until the idea of following traditions from previous Christmas time's popped into his mind. Alex and Naomi always went to see Christmas lights together and walk a walkway of lights around Christmas time. This year, the plan was to be out of town so there had to be a specific plan to look for a place to look at lights. Wanting to keep it a secret, Alex was in contact with Dori (Naomi's mother), and they worked together to make it seem like it wasn't Alex's idea to see lights while they were all on vacation in Tennessee. Leading into the night, Alex was nervous, but he did his best to hide it. Coming to the end of the lights trail, after getting some couple's pictures with Naomi's family, Alex and Naomi got their couple's picture and then Alex suggested a "crazy picture". Naomi proceeded to be her usual goofy self and turned to look and see what Alex was doing for the crazy picture and saw him on one knee.