Meet us in Maui

They say “every dawg has its day”. For these two dawgs, it just happened to be New Year’s Day in New Orleans in 2024. Funny enough, Dani and Scotty actually met years earlier in college and even went to a formal together. At the time, frat-boy Scotty and spoken-for Dani saw it as nothing more than a fun night with mutual friends. Fast forward five years post-college, to New Year’s Day 2024, when fate, those same friends, and their beloved Washington Huskies brought them both to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Scotty had just arrived on a red-eye and was asleep on the couch when Dani, returning from a night on Bourbon Street, walked in and woke him up by tickling his feet that were hanging off the couch. Scotty rolled over, yawned out a “Hiiiiiiii Dani” and went back to bed. Neither of them knew then that this tiny interaction would be the start of their love story. Surrounded by friends, football (a.k.a. Scotty’s first love), and a little New Orleans magic, Scotty and Dani hit it off! Somewhere between one too many Fat Tuesday yards, the big game, and the chaos of Bourbon Street, something just clicked. The Huskies won the Sugar Bowl that day, and in true Scotty-and-Dani fashion, they spontaneously planned to go to Houston for the National Championship. Scotty didn’t even go home; he went straight to Texas. Dani, fighting off a post-New Orleans flu, booked the only flight she could find to follow her team and, maybe subconsciously, her heart. Dani secretly made sure the Airbnb had an extra room just in case the trip was a total failure. Spoiler: it wasn’t. They both went into Houston wondering how serious this fling really was, but after four days filled with endless dates and deep conversations, that trip established how compatible they were and marked the moment they decided to see where their love story could go. (Shoutout Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, and the rest of the Dawgs for winning that Sugar Bowl and leading them to Houston!) For the first six months, Dani and Scotty navigated long-distance. During that time, they traveled the world, scuba diving in every imaginable climate, growing closer with each adventure. Scotty moved back to Seattle and eventually into their Eastlake home. They got their first boat together (named Sugar, of course), picked up new hobbies (yes, Dani now owns her own set of golf clubs...pink of course, and Scotty now does hot pilates daily, and yes he loves it), and settled into life together. Fast forward to the summer of 2025, when Scotty surprised Dani with a six-day getaway to British Columbia, a trip full of everything they love: hiking through forests, relaxing at the spa, flying above picturesque BC, mornings over coffee, afternoons on (and in) the water, evenings filled with live music and fine dining, and countless spontaneous adventures along the way. The most unforgettable moment came the first day of the trip, when Scotty got down on one knee and asked Dani to marry him. Now, they are so excited to say “I do” surrounded by all of their favorite people in their favorite place!