we're getting married!

Willow's Perspective I met Daniel right before my senior year at The University of Iowa in 2020. My roommates and I had a party at our house (Covid times!) to kick off the start of senior year. One of our friends brought his buddy, Daniel, from the rugby team with him (wearing cut-off jean shorts). Daniel and I remember our first interaction veryyy differently. I tried to start up a conversation with him, but Daniel didn't seem too interested and shut me down so I walked away. For the next few months, we'd see each other every once in a while in our now mutual friend group. One night, I found myself alone with Daniel playing Jenga. I distinctly remember thinking "Wow, this guy is actually really funny". Then after even more months of waiting (and some necessary meddling from my friends), we had our first date at Freddy's to get ice cream. Daniel quickly became my very favorite person to be around :) To summarize: we met August 28, 2020 and officially started dating August 10, 2021. Talk about a slow burn! Daniel's Perspective I met Willow through my buddy Josh. He invited me to come to a house party where I would eventually meet the love of my life. As she said above, we remember the night very differently. I walked in with Josh and met his friend group for the first time. I remember this gorgeous blonde girl that I started talking to. The conversation lasted 10, maybe 20 seconds before she walked away, but I was not ready to give up. Over the next couple of months we became closer and closer to the point where our friends knew exactly what was happening. One night we were at Elrays in Iowa City trying to get through the crowd, I stepped ahead to lead the way and to my astonishment, she grabbed my hand and I never let go. From there on we were inseparable. After graduation, we started dating, and I started my career as a firefighter while Willow began her journey to becoming a speech-language pathologist. The last few years have blown by with so many firsts and big milestones for us. My favorite memories with Willow are the family trips to Minnesota with her family, teaching her to play Euchre with my family, and buying a house together. We've had a busy couple of years, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The Proposal Daniel completely surprised me when he proposed on August 9, 2024. He went above and beyond with planning to make it the most incredible day. He invited so many of our friends and family to give me another surprise after the proposal. This has truly been the happiest time of my life. My favorite memories of the past three years with Dan have been cooking dinner together, playing pickleball, a night out in the East Village, fighting over popcorn at the movies, and becoming homeowners together! It's hard to wrap my mind around how we started as two college kids hanging out, to starting the rest of our lives together.