A month before Christmas break, two unsuspecting third-year Auburn students would meet for the very first time during none other than a surprise 21st birthday party for Mrs. Emma Rohde-Ellrich. Michael’s roommate at the time and best friend, Ben Ellrich, reached out to Michael Dean and Victoria Stark to plan such an event as this. But little did they know that Emma and Ben had already been discussing the exciting potential for the newly appointed party planners. Victoria knew very little about this Galveston boy who was passionate about ROTC, Disney, and pick-up basketball. And Michael had only heard tidbits about climber-designer-yoga teacher Vic. But soon, after the invites were sent and the Jungle Juice was bought, the energy for Emma’s surprise party was high. Knock, knock. “Hi, I’m Vic!” A big smile and handshake later, “Hi, I’m Mike.” After much party-planning-tag-teaming throughout the evening, Michael made it clear he had chivalrous intentions. But Vic was busy celebrating Emma and had little room for flirting. But after a Frozen 2 matinée movie date, many Sunday mornings at church, and lots of pure fun and laughter together, it was clear they were both swept up by each other and were meant to be a team for a lifetime. Three and a half years later, they are stoked to begin their lives as one in sunny Panama City Beach.

There wasn't any one moment throughout the relationship where Michael looked at Victoria and said, 'Yep, she's the one.' Instead, Vic's constant love, support, and compassion had Michael head over heels for her, and he would give her the world, starting with the best proposal ever. Over the three years Michael and Vic have dated, Michael knew that he would have to move with unprecedented stealth and precise execution of his plan for it to work without detection. As the plan began to fall into place and all of Vic's parents voiced their approval of this engagement, Michael set his sights on a beautiful bluff that overlooked a field at his family's ranch in Bandera, Texas, and he was going to propose to her on that bluff over Thanksgiving Break. The build-up to this day was like no other for Michael, and when that day finally came, Vic and Michael had about 7 hours combined of sleep, and Michael had to drive 4 hours to Bandera while the ring was in the car. The only reason they didn't crash was the sheer anxiety that forced Michael to stay awake and even hyper-alert, hoping that Vic wouldn't discover his plan. Once they arrived at the ranch, she ran inside for a quick moment, and this was Michael's first opportunity to unbox the ring so that he could put it into his pocket; not hearing the light-footed love of his life, she snuck up on him, but the box was in his hand. Looking at her in disbelief, thinking the surprise is over, she turns around and begins unloading the car. Breathing a sigh of relief, Michael slides the ring into his pocket to continue executing the plan. To get her on the bluff, they decided to take a quick tour of the property, which ended on the bluff. Now all Michael needed to do was distract Vic long enough to get the ring out. So he pulled out his binoculars, looked into the field, and told Vic, "Look! There is a deer out in the field!" she quickly snatched the binoculars to gaze upon a deer that was not there. Michael pulled out the ring and put the ring in front of the binoculars, and she pulled the binoculars from her eyes to see the future. Their hearts are filled with love and adrenaline, trying to grasp the best moment of their lives. Michael said, "Vic, you make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?" Well... you know the rest. July 22nd LET'S GO !!