Christian and I had seen each other around, but we always ran in different circles. He will tell you I ignored him, but I disagree. I just truthfully was not interested in another awkward college relationship. The funny thing is that months before we ever started talking, I asked one of my friends (now bridesmaid), "You know who is kinda cute?" and proceeded to show her a picture of Christian. That was the end of that conversation until we were part of a leadership team on campus together and started having more reasons to interact. After a few Cookout shakes, New Girl episodes, and funny movies, we started dating! We bonded over our shared German heritage (if you know, you know), and although he sometimes (often) embarrassed me by tripping over himself or being loud with his friends in the library, these things have become endearing to me, and I proudly call him my own. Fast forward, and I had graduated from college while he still had another year. This was not the longest distance we had been, but it was hard starting a new phase of life apart from my person! We had been talking seriously about engagement and marriage for a little bit, but part of me was in denial that it was going to happen before he graduated. He was able to pull off the best surprise of my life by proposing to me on September 22 at one of our favorite parks! Looking back, I have no idea how I didn't suspect anything, but the surprise made it 100 times better. After progressing through various stages of shock and denial, it finally set in that I was getting to marry my best friend!

Prior to really talking, Gracie and I slightly knew of each other for a little over a year. Whenever we interacted over that time period in the library, it had only ever been through her talking with a mutual friend, leaving me thinking that she just didn't seem interested in talking with me. Fast forward after both of us were asked to be a part of a campus ministry leadership team, I frequently made jokes and asked questions to everyone on the team, including her. This gave me the perfect opportunity to talk and get to know her more. One thing led to another, and the two of us began to hit it off! We really started to connect following multiple conversations, going to Cookout, and eventually talking about New Girl. To this day, I still don't understand how she didn't know I was not so subtly nudging her into watching New Girl with me until she finally said, "You can definitely wait to start it til summer but if you want to sooner and need someone to watch it with just lmk". Following our first few dates watching funny movies, bowling, and cooking in the dorm, I knew she was something special. When it came time to her graduating, I knew that it would be a very challenging, yet rewarding time in our relationship. While we weren't too far apart, we knew that not having a dorms walk away to see each other would be very different. During this time apart is when I began to set things into motion, beginning the hunt for an engagement ring. Until this point, she definitely knew I was wanting to start looking soon, but I knew she wouldn't believe that it would be quite this soon. Funnily enough, when I visited her a couple of days after purchasing the ring in Illinois, she said something along the lines of "I know nothing special happened because there is no way you'd be able to come up with that whole story if it were fake". Little did she know, every bit of the story was true, except one "small" detail being that I really did buy the ring. A few weeks later, I was able to pull off the greatest surprise in the world on September 22, 2024! (even though I was sure she put the pieces together long before!)